Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, RHU Professor of Microbiology Dr. Mahmoud Halablab has given around 200 mostly real time interviews on several international TV channels including, BBC News, BBC Radio, Aljazeera, Alekhbaria Alsaudia, Alhurra, TRT, Alghad, Bloomberg, Alsharq and Sky News.
One important question that Professor Halablab raises during one of his longest interviews on Alghad News Channel on March 27, 2020 (seen by more than half a million viewers) and which still remains to be answered is “How many coronavirus particles are required to cause Covid-19 in humans?” The answer to this question would enormously help in the development of the Covid-19 virus vaccine and drugs and is now being contemplated by British scientists who will be carrying out their experiments in January 2021.
Dr. Mahmoud Halablab indicates that most of the potential vaccines developed so far involve the use of technologies that have never been used to develop a vaccine for human use.” Furthermore, an important inference he makes is related to the number of vaccine doses that need to be manufactured and given to contain the disease worldwide.
“At the moment, the only solution to the Covid-19 pandemic is to develop a vaccine that is safe, efficient and induces long-lasting immunity in the human body. If found today, we need to vaccinate around 70% of the world population. That means about 6 billion people need to have the vaccine. Each person requires 2 doses; which means 12 billion doses need to be manufactured and given to try and control the disease. This requires massive international collaboration and complicated logistics to achieve such target in a crucial time,” notes Dr. Mahmoud Halablab.
A recent interview discusses the current recommendations on how to live with the virus until an effective, safe and efficient vaccine or drug becomes available.
Dr. Halablab’s interviews ranged between short 6 to 8 minutes conversations to 40 minutes lengthy dialogues with well renowned scientists from all over the world. The interviews covered almost all aspects of the coronavirus disease, including valuable information about the biology of the virus, disease prevention, coronavirus vaccine trials, and drug development. For selected interviews please visit his Facebook page
In addition to more than a million views for his other interviews across social media. Dr. Mahmoud Halablab has completed his PhD in Microbiology at King’s College London, University of London in 1991, with specialization in clinical and medical microbiology. Dr. Halablab was appointed as a university Professor at King’ College where he spent more than 15 years as an academic before joining RHU in 2009 as a full time university Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences. He published more than 50 peer reviewed research papers, a text book ‘entitled Infection and Immunity” in addition to chapters in text books. Some of his research articles were published in highly prestigious academic journals including one of the top medical journals in the world, the Lancet. He is a regular referee for research articles published in the journals of the Society for Applied Microbiology and other scientific journals. On several occasions, he was invited as a keynote speaker on water and food related areas. He is also a regular speaker at the Annual European Working Group on Legionella infections.