The UOC and Leicester University professor warns that, without a global vaccination, "we have a pandemic for a while"
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The professor of the UOC and the University of Leicester, Salvador Macip, gave the inaugural lecture for the 2021-2022 academic year at the TecnoCampus last night, in an event that brought together around 150 people in the Auditorium. Macip made an exhaustive analysis of the management and current situation of what he described as "the first great pandemic of the XNUMXst century", to highlight that it is not the first of this century, but the first of this magnitude. In this sense, Macip emphasized the "forgotten diseases", such as malaria or tuberculosis, which wreak havoc in many poor countries, or in others, such as AIDS or influenza, which cause a large number. of deaths each year, also in Western countries. 

After making a historical introduction to phenomena of the past, such as the Black Death, in the Middle Ages, or deaths from microbial infections in America with the arrival of Europeans, Salvador Macip focused on the management of covid -19. He pointed out that global uncoordination, with the richest countries hoarding vaccines, the mismanagement of populist politicians like Trump or Bolsonaro and the opposition of part of the population to getting vaccinated, are some of the main enemies in controlling the disease. "We have a large number of vaccines and not always the most effective is the best, but other factors are involved such as price or less or greater difficulty in conserving it," he said, concluding that "we have failed in communication, since conspiracy theories have taken root and we have segments of the population that do not want to be vaccinated ”.  

As for the future prospects, Professor Macip warned: "we have a pandemic for a while." As long as the virus is transmitted, and will continue to do so until mass vaccination reaches all countries, the virus will mutate and become more contagious, he explained.  

Balance of the previous course 

The inauguration of the course was also attended by the director of the School of Health Sciences, Carme Rosell, who highlighted the key role of health professionals in the health crisis, and the director general of the TecnoCampus , Josep Lluís Checa, who reviewed the 2020-2021 academic year and pointed out that the institution has been able to adapt to an adverse context and maintain its university and business activities.  

Finally, the mayor of Mataró and president of the Fundació TecnoCampus Mataró-Maresme, David Bote, closed the event by pointing out that "the public must be valued, because if we are getting out of this nightmare it is because there is services and public policies ".