The threat of a pandemic within this lifetime is “very real”, experts have told Holyrood’s Covid-19 Recovery Committee. MSPs took evidence on pandemic preparedness from Professor Andrew Morris, chair of the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness, and Professor Tom Evans, consultant in infectious diseases at Glasgow University.
Experts told the committee about concerns over possible complacency amid global economic issues. Asked how likely another pandemic was in this lifetime, Prof Evans said: “It’s dangerous to make prognostications but I think the threat is very real and not just from something we know about.”
He added: “It depends on how long you live as to whether it’s going to occur in my lifetime or your lifetime, but I think it would be foolish to assume this is not going to happen for another 100 years. There’s every possibility that we’re looking at a future pandemic, certainly, within the next 100 years.”
