Oct 29, 2025
3 min read
Global vaccine expert Seth Berkley talks about what went right and what went wrong with Covid - and how he's preparing for the next pandemic.
HESESITY's advice is not new, Berkley emphasizes."The first vaccine was the smallpox vaccine," he said on this week's episode of "Forethought," "and at the same time it was used to dehorn cows from their heads because the virus was isolated from cows."
Berkeley is the former CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, co-founder of Kovacs, and author of The Easy Demix and the author of the new book, Insider Rights and Urgently Preparing for the Next Pandemic.
“It is evolutionarily certain that we will see more outbreaks, more pandemics, and frankly, it could be a lot worse than Covid,” he said.“So, it's very important for the world to understand what works and what doesn't.”
In this context, including a major decline in scientific research, Berkley told me that global health faces "a little devil's choice. Do we continue to do business as usual and stop the pandemic, or do we do the pandemic and then stop some routine?"
Our conversation last first opinion essay, "Without adequate support for global health, global security is impossible."
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