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Former Miss England Is Part Of Oxford University Team Behind Covid Vaccine Research

Former Miss England Is Part Of Oxford University Team Behind Covid Vaccine Research

Dr Carina Tyrrell, 31, ditched beauty pageants and ball gowns to spend the last year spearheading the research

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A former Miss England winner has spoken out about her involvement in the ground-breaking research behind a new Covid-19 vaccine, having been part of the team at Oxford University.

Dr Carina Tyrrell, 31, ditched beauty pageants and ball gowns to spend the last year spearheading the research, working tirelessly to make sure the vaccines are safe to be rolled out to the British public.

Dr Tyrrell - who has a long list of academic honours - won Miss England back in 2014, and also came fourth in the Miss World competition in the same year.

SWNS

Over the past year, however, she's found herself at the forefront of Britain's biggest public health crisis in other 100 years, working around the clock to help find a vaccine.

Tyrrell has a first-class medical degree from Cambridge University and a Master's in public health.

After graduating from her Master's in 2019, she also went on to work with the World Health Organisation to undertake cutting edge research on various pandemics around the world.

Carina, from Cambridge, said: "I still really support both Miss World and Miss England and I still judge the Miss England contest.

"But I didn't think six years on I would be part of a team searching for a vaccine during a global pandemic on this scale.

"It's obviously being rolled out now and it's fantastic that all the hard work has paid off."

SWNS

The doctor warned that we mustn't get 'complacent', encouraging people to be vaccinated when they are offered the opportunity.

"It's really important to emphasise that until we get all doses of the vaccine, people are obviously respecting all the social distancing regulations in place," she said.

"The last thing we want is everybody going back to normality when we are not yet there.

"A surge in cases over Christmas will just put added pressure on everybody working on the front line just. Don't get complacent yet.

"I think everybody probably has the same thing on their list for Father Christmas this year - no more Covid.

"At least we are coming out of it which is what everybody wants and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's still going to take a few months but you just have to bear with us for a little bit longer."

SWNS

As the virus began to spread, Tyrrell's Oxford team at Oxford began channelling their energy into finding a suitable vaccine.

Collaborating with scientists and doctors from across the globe, they worked to ensure vaccine trials receive the correct funding, and to find the most suitable vaccine by comparing the different trials - including the Pfizer, Moderna and the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines.

"To approve a vaccine takes years and we have managed to do something in a year," Tyrrell explained.

"It's really a testament to the work of the scientific community, health care workers and everybody that's been involved.

"For the policy work, I have been the lead writing up some of that policy and a scientific paper that's going to be published in the British Medical Journal.

"It's about how we manage people presenting with Covid-19 in hospitals when we are struggling with capacity and managing the surge of people attending hospitals."

SWNS

Tyrrell warned that we could now face further pandemics in the future, adding: "It's inevitable even now, unfortunately, we will be faced with other infectious diseases and pandemics.

"It goes back to the work I did in the past with WHO [the World Helth Organisation] and other international health groups - this is precisely what we work to try and prepare for.

"It's difficult to prepare for these things. This particular was a respiratory one and it's one of the hardest ones to tackle.

"These viruses just spread much more quickly and it's much more difficult to control.

"We need to be thinking about what we have learned from this to help us prepare for the next pandemic - because unfortunately there will be others in the future."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK News, News, vaccine, Coronavirus