We write as former leaders of the World Health Organization’s precursor to the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Collaborating Center for Influenza Surveillance and Research. We now call for a globally coordinated system to urgently advise national authorities and vaccine companies on changes necessary to vaccines as a result of new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants (Nature 589, 177–178; 2021).
For vaccine efficacy to keep pace with the variants, COVID-19 surveillance must be linked to genetic and antigenic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 (see Nature 589, 337–338; 2021). Virus sequencing is important, but it is not enough to inform up-to-date recommendations on the composition of vaccines.
We learnt this 70 years ago for influenza vaccines, which were soon rendered ineffective as the virus rapidly mutated. The GISRS now issues biannual recommendations on the composition of vaccines and the reagents necessary for their assessment and release.
A comparable, globally recognized institution is needed to swiftly analyse changes in SARS-CoV-2 together with data on epidemiology, immunology and the field effectiveness of vaccines. It would build on existing GISRS mechanisms and resources, and use data collected worldwide by a network of national and regional laboratories and regulatory agencies.
