Next Pandemic Could Be More Lethal than COVID, Oxford Vaccine Creator Says

A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain February 17, 2021. (Reuters)
A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain February 17, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
20

Next Pandemic Could Be More Lethal than COVID, Oxford Vaccine Creator Says

A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain February 17, 2021. (Reuters)
A woman receives an Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain February 17, 2021. (Reuters)

Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the pandemic must not be squandered, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said.

"This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods," Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the BBC reported. "The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both."

"We cannot allow a situation where we have gone through all we have gone through, and then find that the enormous economic losses we have sustained mean that there is still no funding for pandemic preparedness," she said.

"The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost."



Trump Says Musk Will Face ‘Very Serious Consequences’ If He Funds Democratic Candidates

 President Donald Trump points as he arrives on Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, NJ, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP)
President Donald Trump points as he arrives on Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, NJ, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Trump Says Musk Will Face ‘Very Serious Consequences’ If He Funds Democratic Candidates

 President Donald Trump points as he arrives on Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, NJ, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP)
President Donald Trump points as he arrives on Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, NJ, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP)

US President Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News on Saturday, said there would be "serious consequences" if billionaire Elon Musk funds Democratic Party candidates to run against Republicans who vote for Trump's sweeping tax-cut bill.

Trump declined to say what those consequences would be in the phone interview, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate Musk.

Asked if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was over, Trump said, "I would assume so, yeah."