THE RACE FOR A COVID-19 VACCINE

RESEARCHERS ACROSS THE WORLD ARE RACING TO FIND A CURE

By SOPHIA CAO SHEHZAIB RAEES

Never had asthma. Never drank alcohol. Never smoked. It didn’t matter. Sammy Schwartz, an ordinary woman living in Brooklyn, became affected by the pandemic that has been affecting everyone worldwide since the beginning of January: the 2019 Coronavirus Disease. Known also as COVID19, over 4.44 million confirmed cases have been announced and over 302,000 deaths have occurred as of March 14th, 2020. As an overwhelming number of individuals are becoming affected each day, front-line workers and government officials are rushing to save thousands of lives but due to the increasing demand for medical supplies, coronavirus masks, and other necessities, the United States economy is breaking down. According to a former top US health official Rick Bright, “If we fail to improve our response now, based on science, I fear the pandemic will get worse and be prolonged.” To prevent this from occurring, research companies across the United States as well as the world are racing to find a COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19

Recently, health experts have asserted “that the virus won’t stop spreading until 60% to 70% of the world’s population is immune.” Even according to the World Health Organization, the pandemic was contended to possibly be a disease that might “never go away and the world would have to learn to live with it for good” indicating that COVID-19 might become endemic. Consequently, due to the lockdown actions enacted as a result of the growing presence of COVID-19, nearly three million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits reaching an overall 36.5 million mark. The US economy is pummeling down accentuating the necessity of a COVID-19 vaccine and the reopening of the economy. With the United States leading the world with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, the race for the COVID-19 vaccine is in action.

COVID-19

With an outbreak beginning in Wuhan, China and soon transitioning into a global pandemic in

less than a few months, COVID-19 proves to be a pandemic that needs to be dealt with quickly through a vaccine. Stated by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, “it might actually require several different vaccines manufactured and distributed by different labs in order to effectively eradicate COVID-19 from the planet.” Currently, 100 vaccines are reported to be under development while seven are presently undergoing clinical trials. In Germany, the CureVac company has proclaimed that an immune response in animals was triggered

by their experimental coronavirus vaccine. As a result, the first human trials would begin in June through this biotech company. In the US, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has begun a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial with the help of 360 volunteers. On the other hand, there has not been a successful vaccine made yet as scientists across the world scramble to produce an effective COVID-19 vaccination.

COVID-19’

US

Even though a vaccine might turn out to be effective in the near future, the FDA approval process usually takes a year or longer for the vaccine to be approved. According to the top Health and Human Services official Dr. Rick Bright as well, “there’s ‘no plan’ to mass produce and distribute one” and there are “shortages of personal protective equipment.” Based on his input, the earliest a vaccine may be available is early next spring and even so, there are not enough vaccinations that can be produced for the country or even the world. Although President Trump indicated that the military would be mobilized to distribute the vaccine which was proposed to be expected at the end of 2020, the likelihood of this occurring was very low according to health experts including Anthony Fauci. Additionally, due to the controversy between US and China, global tensions are rising over the race for a coronavirus vaccine. On March 13th, two US agencies warned “that Chinese hackers were trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research” while China countered that the US was “smearing its reputation.” In relation to France, French pharmaceutical drugmaker Sanofi proclaimed that the company would “reserve first shipments of any vaccine it discovered to the United States” angering the French government. As of now, no vaccines have yet been made so each individual needs to take precautions including social distancing to prevent the COVID19 pandemic from spreading even further. Nevertheless, medical researchers across the world are working diligently on producing a vaccine that can save as many lives as possible.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/ michigan/2020/05/14/michigan-pediatricmulti-inflammatory-syndrome-covid-19- coronavirus-kawasaki-kids/3109695001/ https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-uscanada-52657815 https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ coronavirus-vaccine-when-will-we-get-iteverything-we-know-so-far/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/ coronavirus-whistleblower-bright-issues-starkvaccine-warning-we-don-t-n1207056 https://news.yahoo.com/curevacs-coronavirusvaccine-candidate-triggered-132526469.html https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/05/15/ world/global-coronavirus-vaccine-raceheats-up/#.Xr4Wg2hKjZs https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51665497