Vaccines
Gary Grohmann A B and Robert Booy B CA
B
C
Gary Grohmann BSc(Hons) PhD FASM (right) is a consultant virologist and a Director of Environmental Pathogens P/L, as well as a Board Member, and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, of the Immunisation Coalition. He is an Adjunct Professor in Infectious Diseases and Immunology at The University of Sydney. He was Head of Immunobiology at the Therapeutic Goods Administration for 17 years and then a consultant to the World Health Organization on influenza and COVID‐19 matters for 7 years. |
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Robert Booy MBBS, MSc, MD, FRACP, FRCPCH (left) is a Senior Professorial Fellow, Children’s Hospital at Westmead School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney. He has over 300 publications and has supervised 30 doctoral students. Robert has a long-term interest in the control and prevention of serious infectious diseases. He was a Board Member of the Immunisation Coalition for 12 years and still serves on its Scientific Advisory Committee as Chair. |
Over the last 25 years or so, the Immunisation Coalition (IC) has been a strong advocate of the importance of vaccines and vaccination and aims to improve the protection of all Australians against infectious diseases. It is a leading voice for whole-of-life immunisation in Australia and has also been instrumental in highlighting the certainty of pandemics and the importance of continuous pandemic preparedness.1
In carrying out its work, the IC collaborates with like-minded organisations, such as Primary Health Networks, Public Health Units, Government health departments and other groups that fight vaccine hesitancy, as well as researchers, health care practitioners and vaccine manufacturers, thus covering the whole vaccine value chain.2,3
The IC is made up of experts in microbiology, virology, public health, epidemiology, vaccine research, infectious diseases, paediatrics, primary care nursing, medicine and pharmacy. In carrying out its work the IC holds scientific meetings and various educational programs. These include: three meetings annually, daily bulletins, newsletters, educational webinars and podcasts with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation, educational materials, as well as digital tools and guides for healthcare professionals. In addition, the IC has developed a vaccination education program for Year 9 and 10 students, called Omega, with new revisions planned for 2025.
The group has been well served by a Board (current Chair Rod Pearce) and its Scientific advisory committee (current Chair Robert Booy). The Board has also been well served by previous Chairs, Alan Hampson, Paul Van Buynder and Robert Booy, as well as CEOs Kim Sampson and Andrew Minton (current).
It is worth briefly noting its history; founded by Alan Hampson, the organisation had its beginnings in 1990 as a loose coalition of experts to combat misinformation on influenza vaccines and to promote influenza vaccination. A team of expert key opinion leaders was then recruited to conduct ongoing programs and the Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) was formed and registered as a not-for-profit organisation in 2006. Over the years, the annual gathering of the key opinion leaders transitioned into a wider scientific meeting bringing together professionals from around Australia and New Zealand to share their views, expertise and research. CEO Kim Sampson was appointed in 2008, together with expert staff, to continue supporting the ever-expanding ISG program. New important adult vaccines were also emerging, notably vaccines for shingles, pneumococcal disease and respiratory syncytial virus, and the organisation was formally rebranded as the Immunisation Coalition in 2016 to bring its acquired expertise and success in vaccination advocacy to a wider range of vaccine preventable diseases.
Novel vaccine platforms have also been added to the IC’s ever-expanding programs and interests notably, mRNA vaccines, cell culture based and recombinant protein based influenza vaccines, adjuvanted vaccines, viral vector vaccines, whole virus vaccines, live vaccines, DNA vaccines, and combination vaccines.
The nine articles that follow in this issue are a selection from the IC’s 2024 annual scientific meeting (ASM, see https://www.immunisationcoalition.org.au/events/2024-annual-scientific-meeting/), which was held over 4–5 February 2024 in Melbourne, and relate directly to the objectives of the IC. A wide variety of topics were presented including:
Vaccination of people over age 60, which not only reduces the impact of some preventable microbial diseases but has additional benefits potentially reducing cancer and dementia as well as preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.4
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in children, which are highly efficacious in preventing life threatening pneumococcal infections, giving a strong herd immunity effect through reduction in pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in vaccinated children.5
The economic and individual value of vaccination in older individuals where for example shingles is often debilitating with complications.6
The rebound of influenza, after the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced vaccine uptake since 2020–21 – i.e. only 26% received influenza vaccine in the 6 months to <5 years age group and in 2024 only 61% received influenza vaccine in those 65 years and over.7
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness monitoring in Australia showing how vaccine boosting with the most up to date vaccine has been highly effective in reducing COVID-19 deaths in older adults, and that waning protection continues to support the need for six-monthly boosters in this population, as well as those in other high risk groups.8
The use of a databank containing results for polymerase chain reaction tests in Victoria to elucidate the associations between viruses and health conditions, allowing clinicians to make better informed diagnoses.9
The evolving role of community pharmacists in vaccination who were at the forefront of public healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.10
Respiratory virus surveillance in Australia allowing for a more comprehensive picture of the burden, severity and impact of several respiratory viruses.11
One of the highlights of the conference was a paper presented by international expert and coronavirus virologist Stanley Perlman on informed predictions for the next pandemic, emphasising the need to ponder how we would approach a future pandemic, highlighting lessons learned, successes and failures.12
The aetiology of the next pandemic cannot be known in advance but it is self evident that human–animal–avian influenza viruses and coronaviruses present an ever-present threat. But there are many other threats at the human–animal interface that cannot be ignored like bird flu, Chikungunya, MERS, SARS, mpox, Ebola, Marburg, Zika and various arboviruses. The world needs to be ready with a cadence of positive activities including: excellent surveillance, real time genomics, clear and accurate messaging, vaccine candidates, rapid diagnostic tests, rapid vaccine production platforms, strong childhood and adult vaccination programs, well-resourced vaccine and antiviral programs, strong research programs, strong regulation to ensure safety and efficacy giving confidence to the public, well-resourced hospitals and front line workers, economic strategies with financial and health support for the community, measures to handle any fallout during and after a pandemic, and pharmaceutical industry knowhow and support to produce and supply vaccines quickly and safely.
Those interested in vaccine advocacy and the latest on vaccines will be interested in the IC’s 26th ASM, which will be held in Melbourne on 9–10 February 2025 (see https://www.immunisationcoalition.org.au/events/annual-scientific-meeting/). For IC membership, which is free, contact: info@immunisationcoalition.org.au.
Conflicts of interest
Gary Grohmann is a member of the Board and the scientific advisory committee of the Immunisation Coalition. Robert Booy is Chair of the scientific advisory committee of the Immunisation Coalition. The authors have no further conflicts of interest to declare.
References
1 Immunisation Coalition (2023) Annual Report 2023. https://immunisationcoalition.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Annual-Report-2023.pdf
2 Sanae A et al. (2022) Vaccine value chain: an overview and challenges, In ‘2022 14th International Colloquium of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LOGISTIQUA)’, 25–27 May 2022, El Jadida, Morocco. pp. 1–6. IEEE. doi:10.1109/LOGISTIQUA55056.2022.9938030
3 Hall J et al. (2024) Australia’s Vaccine Chain Value Conference. Biointellect. https://www.biointelect.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AVVCC24-Outputs-Final-launch-08082024.pdf
4 Woodward M (2024) Enhancing longevity: the additional benefits of vaccination in older adults. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 175-178.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
5 Jayasinghe S (2024) Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in children. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 179-183.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
6 Flanagan KL, Wood JG (2024) Unlocking the value of Shingrix: how vaccination empowers older adults. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 184-187.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
7 Barr G (2024) Influenza in Australia before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 188-192.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
8 Liu B (2024) COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness monitoring in Australia. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 193-195.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
9 Buttery JP et al. (2024) SnotWatch: data collaboration informing disease impact. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 196-200.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
10 Hart B (2024) The evolving role of Australian community pharmacists in vaccination: challenges and opportunities. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 201-204.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
11 Cheng C (2024) Respiratory virus surveillance in Australia: past, present and future. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 205-207.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
12 Perlman S (2024) Recent pandemics and informed predictions. Microbiol Aust 45(4), 208-210.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gary Grohmann BSc(Hons) PhD FASM (right) is a consultant virologist and a Director of Environmental Pathogens P/L, as well as a Board Member, and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, of the Immunisation Coalition. He is an Adjunct Professor in Infectious Diseases and Immunology at The University of Sydney. He was Head of Immunobiology at the Therapeutic Goods Administration for 17 years and then a consultant to the World Health Organization on influenza and COVID‐19 matters for 7 years. |
Robert Booy MBBS, MSc, MD, FRACP, FRCPCH (left) is a Senior Professorial Fellow, Children’s Hospital at Westmead School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Sydney. He has over 300 publications and has supervised 30 doctoral students. Robert has a long-term interest in the control and prevention of serious infectious diseases. He was a Board Member of the Immunisation Coalition for 12 years and still serves on its Scientific Advisory Committee as Chair. |
