IVI in the Media

South China Morning Post | The latest coronavirus boosters target Omicron. Are they safe and effective?

Financial News | IVI Director General Jerome Kim: ‘Bill Gates a strong advocate of IVI’

South China Morning Post | Scientists urge people to take second Covid vaccine booster if offered as Omicron continues to spread

Financial Times | Unvaccinated and unprepared, North Korea faces Covid catastrophe

Chosun Ilbo | Jerome Kim, Director General of International Vaccine Institute, named a distinguished professor at Seoul National University

Financial Times | South Korea downgrades Covid to a ‘Class 2’ disease and removes restrictions

South China Morning Post | China was the world’s biggest Covid-19 vaccine exporter. Not any more

The Wall Street Journal | Despite High Covid-19 Case Counts, Asian Nations Learn to Live With the Virus

Barron’s | China Eases Some Covid Testing Rules. It’s a Targeted Approach to Reduce Impact on the Economy.

CNBC | We need to treat Covid as an endemic pathogen and update vaccines: International Vaccine Institute

Financial Times | Beijing digs in to avoid repeating Hong Kong’s Covid mistakes

The Telegraph | Why China and Hong Kong face a devastating new Covid wave

CGTN | Why is China seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases?

Financial Times | Shanghai teeters on the brink of Covid lockdown

ADB Insight | Year of the Vaccine: The Next Steps for Asia and the Pacific to Combat COVID-19

Fortune | Will we all need fourth COVID vaccine booster shots?

The Telegraph | South Korea abandons its successful test and trace system as omicron cases surge

South China Morning Post | Can China’s home-grown mRNA Covid-19 vaccine pass its final tests?

The Guardian | Cuba leads the world in vaccinating children as young as two against Covid

The Telegraph | Vaccine hesitancy among Taiwan’s elderly mars its pandemic performance and prevents reopening

Director General Jerome Kim on The Alex Salmond Show

South China Morning Post | Which vaccines stop Omicron? Search for data moves from labs to real world

CNBC | 2022 will be the ‘year of vaccination,’ says director of vaccine institute

South China Morning Post | As Omicron upends Covid-19 vaccine targets, what will the future look like?

South China Morning Post | Omicron and the Winter Olympics – is China’s zero-Covid strategy up to the challenges?

CBS Mornings | With Omicron on its doorstep, countries in Asia are closing up

National Geographic | Omicron is dodging the immune system—but boosters show promising signs

Khaleej Times | Covid: 96% of people in low-income nations have yet to receive first vaccine dose, says expert

Voice of America | South Korea Showed How to Contain COVID, Now It Will Try to Live With It

China Daily | Experts say countries should remain cautious about reopening borders

South China Morning Post | Next Covid-19 test? Diagnostic blind spots stir visions of bleak midwinter

South China Morning Post | US-China coronavirus vaccine diplomacy heats up but can donations sway allegiances?

The New York Times | How Asia, Once a Vaccination Laggard, Is Revving Up Inoculations

South China Morning Post | Coronavirus: as rich countries turn to big-name booster shots from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, the poor are left with lesser-known rivals like Abdala, Soberana 2

South China Morning Post | Coronavirus: China seeks to develop next-gen vaccines amid trial complications

South China Morning Post | Can China stay ahead as a leading exporter of Covid-19 vaccines?

Maeil Business Newspaper | All music is beautiful in its own way, but Violinist Sang Hee Lee’s music shines a special light

Nature | Six months of COVID vaccines: what 1.7 billion doses have taught scientists

Asian Boss | We Asked Top Vaccine Expert About COVID Vaccine Problems

Bloomberg | Consequences of ‘Huge’ Global Gap in Vaccinations

EIU Perspectives | What does Denmark’s permanent suspension of both the AstraZeneca and Janssen covid-19 vaccines mean for other countries?

Asia Times | Vaccinations in a race against viral variants

Nature | Why COVID vaccines are so difficult to compare

DEVEX | Opinion: COVAX — too big, and too important, to fail

CNN | “Our response needs to be clear, strong, and unified”

South China Morning Post | Coronavirus vaccines will save 2021? Not so fast, here’s what the experts think

Bloomberg | Will the Covid-19 Vaccines Be Effective and Safe?

Asian Boss | Update On COVID-19 Vaccine Price & Schedule From A Leading Vaccine Expert

The Telegraph | ‘If you are not prepared, the virus has found every weakness’: How countries in Asia tamed Covid-19

CGTN | ‘The vaccine itself is not the silver bullet,’ says International Vaccine Institute

Devex | Q&A: Why Jerome Kim is ‘hopeful’ but cautious about distributing a COVID-19 vaccine

Maeil Business Newspaper | IVI Director General Jerome Kim Shares His Thoughts on Resurgence of COVID-19 Outbreaks in S. Korea

Chosun Ilbo | IVI Director General Jerome Kim Shares His Thoughts on Equitable Access of COVID-19 Vaccines

Channel News Asia | On a fast track like never before: The COVID-19 vaccine effort and 5 vital questions

The Economist’s Future of Healthcare Insight Hour | Vaccine development: A race to the finish line

Devex | Q&A: Is COVID-19 helping or hindering progress toward an HIV vaccine?

TED | The trials, tribulations and timeline of a COVID-19 vaccine

Wired Korea | The End of World War C: Peace without Victory?

Asian Boss | World’s Leading Vaccine Expert Fact-Checks COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy

Development Today | Why Sweden funds a vaccine institute in Korea and not Oslo-based CEPI

CNBC | Parts of Asia that relaxed restrictions without a resurgence in coronavirus cases did these three things

The Korea Herald | [Herald Interview] ‘Making vaccines accessible is biggest COVID-19 challenge’

CGTN: The Agenda with Stephen Cole | Speed of vaccine trials is ‘unprecedented’

Asian Boss | We Asked The World’s Leading Vaccine Expert About COVID-19 Vaccine

The Guardian | Test, trace, contain: how South Korea flattened its coronavirus curve

BBC World Service: The Inquiry | How do we come out of the lockdown? (13:00)

ANC 24/7 | Int’l Vaccine Institute: 12-18 months reasonable timetable for development of Covid-19 vaccine

Seeker | How Fast Can We Make a Coronavirus Vaccine?

Education City Speaker Series: Flattening the Curve – Global Responses to COVID-19

Wion News | About 70% of vaccines used around the world are made in India: S Korean expert Dr Jerome Kim

South China Morning Post | How long will a coronavirus vaccine take? A Q&A with Jerome Kim, head of the International Vaccine Institute

BBC World News | Jerome Kim: Vaccines are the long-term solution to the pandemic

The Korea Times | Developing vaccine against COVID-19

TRT: Bigger than Five | COVID-19: The World Reacts

South Korea’s fight against coronavirus (CBS News)

NDTV | Top South Korea Doctor On Why He Thinks Coronavirus Is Not A ‘Chinese Virus’

RTE | What South Korea can teach Ireland about fighting Covid-19

Physical distancing should last months, not weeks, says epidemiologist (Yahoo News Canada)

Development of vaccine requires massive investment… international cooperation is needed (Korea Economic Daily)

COVID-19 Pandemic (Arirang TV, 22:50~46:00)

By then, we’ll have a vaccine on our side (Hankyoreh—Korean)

Coronavirus Pandemic: International Vaccine Institute director on how long it will take to develop vaccine (CGTN)

Testing times: Why South Korea’s COVID-19 strategy is working (Al Jazeera English)

Genexine seeks to compress the vaccine timeline

Genexine, Binex to develop COVID-19 vaccine (Korea Biomedical Review)

Genexine, Binex to co-develop coronavirus vaccine GX-19 (Korea Herald)

How close are we to a COVID-19 vaccine? Jerome H. Kim from International Vaccine Institute (Arirang News)

COVID-19 vaccine, drugs on fast track for development: IVI chief (Yonhap News)

Inside the race to find a coronavirus vaccine (Devex)

Chinese students keen for turnaround (China Daily)

China Daily | S. Korea can try out makeshift hospitals, experts say

Director General Jerome Kim for Phoenix TV

Speed and accuracy vital for COVID-19 test kits (Arirang News)

2020 COVID-19 Live Updates: Jerome Kim for tbs eFM

Jerome Kim for KBS WORLD Radio, Korea24 on the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea

Korea should join efforts in vaccine development to prevent pandemics (JoongAng Ilbo)

Future global health threats

IVI: COVID-19 could linger (Korean)

Jerome Kim for Korea, Factual: “Hong Kong’s handling of COVID-19 outbreak & Prospects of vaccine development”

Concerns about the spread of COVID-19: When will a vaccine be developed? When can we expect the “Super Vaccine”?

Al Jazeera English | Scientists call for global cooperation over coronavirus

When will COVID-19 vaccine be commercialized…And “super vaccine”? (Korean)

Global push to find vaccine against devastating bug growing

IVI receives $15.7 million to conduct Ph III trials of typhoid vaccine

Korean vaccines expanding global territory

Neglected Victims of Neglected Diseases

Let’s build a common defense against epidemics

Vaccine investment brings 16-fold return… partnering with Bill Gates

World must join forces to prevent infectious diseases

IVI editorial in The Korea Herald advocates for Korean leadership for global health

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“Probability of Zika virus spreading immediately in Korea very low”

Author
ivi
Date
2016-10-10 07:18
Views
5695

Dr. In-Kyu Yoon on Yonhap News about Zika

IVI’s Dr. In-Kyu Yoon, Deputy Director General of Science and Director of the Dengue Vaccine Initiative, sat down with a reporter from Yonhap News to answer questions about Zika, which is causing concern in South Korea. Dr. Yoon, who has spent years studying flaviviruses like dengue and Zika, is among the few Zika experts in South Korea. Read the English translation of the interview below. The original Korean-language article can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/1Tkswto  


 


"Probability of Zika virus spreading immediately in Korea very low"
"Dengue outbreak in Yoyogi Park in Japan provides an example"

"When conditions are met over time, it is uncertain what will happen"



5 February, 2016


"The probability of Zika immediately spreading in Korea is very low. However, it remains uncertain what will happen over a period of time and if conditions are met." Dr. Yoon In-Kyu, Director of the Dengue Vaccine Initiative (DVI) at the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), is a Zika virus expert in South Korea.


In an interview with Yonhap News at IVI on February 4, Dr. Yoon repeated "It is uncertain” several times. He said, "It is because adequate studies have not been conducted yet." Zika virus generally causes mild febrile illness. Signs and symptoms also entail rash and conjunctivitis.


The reason Zika is worrisome to the general public is the risk of microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head) in the newborn when a pregnant woman gets infected. Dr. Yoon said, "The link between microcephaly, which can have an immense impact on a person's life, and the virus is suspected and currently being clarified, and its link with Guillain-Barre Syndrome or other syndromes requires further investigation," adding, "It is premature to decisively judge the risk of the virus at this time."


However, Dr. Yoon said that based on facts and findings elucidated already, there is a possibility of the virus spreading in Korea. "This is because we cannot rule out the possibility that a person infected with Zika enters South Korea, is bitten by the Aedes albopictus mosquito vector, and transmits it to another person."


Dr. Yoon said the chance that these conditions will happen in the short term is extremely low, but he warned the virus could spread in South Korea during the course of similar situations repeating amongst many people over a longer period of time such as 1 year or even 10 years.


For example, Dr. Yoon described a similar case that occurred in Japan in 2014. A dengue outbreak involving more than 70 infected people occurred in Yoyogi Park in central Tokyo, the epicenter. It was the first time in 70 years that dengue transmission occurred in Japan. The Japanese authorities shut down the park for 57 days.


The virus that causes dengue is a 'flavivirus,' which is the same kind as Zika. The genetic sequences between the Zika virus and dengue virus are about 70 percent identical. The mosquitos that transmit the two viruses, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus and Aedes aegypti, are the same as well.


Dr. Yoon said "Emerging diseases including Zika, dengue and chikungunya are increasingly spreading in terms of number of patients and geographical scope," adding, "We cannot predict for certain, but the probability of rapid spread is likely to increase over time." He went on to say, "Changes including the development of better mosquito control techniques may help prevent such a situation from becoming a reality in the future."


"There is a long way to go in the quest to develop a Zika vaccine. Although dengue - for which a vaccine has been developed - and Zika both belong to the flavivirus group, we need to first analyze the characteristics of Zika virus. But the reality is research findings are still limited at this time."


For example, studies are needed to check whether a person with a history of dengue infection would develop immunity to Zika, or would symptoms be aggravated when a person is infected with Zika. While the world’s first dengue vaccine is available - developed with cooperation from IVI - and is licensed in several countries, some questions remain on its efficacy.


IVI, of which Dr. Yoon is currently affiliated, is a non-profit International Organization headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The Institute was established as an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with the mission to discover, develop and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for global public health.


Dr. Yoon is a Korean-American. A graduate of Yale University with magna cum laude, he obtained his medical degree from New York University of School of Medicine. He served as a medical officer with the U.S. military, and has been engaged in public health research at military hospitals and research centers. In the late 1990s, he was stationed at the U.S. military hospital in Yongsan, Seoul.


Dr. Yoon said, smiling, "I am not comfortable speaking Korean, but I can hear and understand the language." In the interview, the reporter asked questions in Korean, and Dr. Yoon answered in English.


Dr. Yoon is considered a flavivirus expert. His group recently detected the presence of Zika virus in Thailand and the Philippines.


He said, "Since I have been continuously doing research in public health, and IVI’s mission is to develop and introduce vaccines for developing countries, that was very attractive to me; hence I chose to join IVI," adding, "Even if IVI was not based in Korea, I would have joined IVI but it is true that IVI’s base in South Korea was very attractive to me as well."