In this episode, Peter Piot, medical doctor, virologist, and Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reflects on a year of surprises with Covid-19. Why did Europe and the Americas experience so many cases early on, and why are cases accelerating in Africa only now? What role has leadership played in controlling the pandemic and encouraging a stronger commitment to multilateralism and global equity in vaccine distribution? How will the new, more transmissible variants affect the spread of the pandemic? And how are new forms of information-sharing and collaboration shaping how research may be conducted in the future?

 

Dr. Peter Piot, who co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, is Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was the founding Executive Director of UNAIDS and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.