A team composed of more than 200 scientists from the U.K. are currently developing new vaccines at a highly-secured laboratory complex in Porton Down, Wiltshire.
Which is the UK Health and Security Agency or U.K.H.S.A’s Science and Defense Technology campus.
Scientists have come up with a threat list of animal viruses capable of infecting humans and could spread rapidly across the globe in the future.
This is why they only refer to the possible next pandemic as Disease X.
Scientists also hoped that the facility will help the United Kingdom tackle Disease X by enhancing preparedness for pathogens with pandemic potential, including those that have yet to be identified.
A Sky news report citing Professor Dame Jenny Harries, the head of the UKHSA, said, “What we’re trying to do here is ensure that we prepare so that if we have a new Disease X, a new pathogen, we have done as much of that work in advance as possible. Hopefully, we can prevent it. But if we can’t and we have to respond, then we have already started developing vaccines and therapeutics to crack it.”
Multiple countries have pledged a total of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars to help these scientists prepare for this disease.
The UK government has pledged 210 million U.S. dollars, meanwhile. Countries like Australia, Germany, Japan, Norway, and the United States also made pledges.
