More than 12 million people worldwide have been infected by the novel coronavirus. Nearly 560 thousand of the infected have died and many more are hanging on to life by a thread. The daily rate of infection and death toll have seen a spike these past few weeks.
One thing the world is so desperately calling for is a vaccine. It is commonly held that a vaccine for the overwhelming majority who are not yet infected would not only halt the spread of the virus but would come in handy to prevent the global economy from further collapse.
How exactly do vaccines work, and why is a vaccine not a single to the pandemic.
HOW VACCINES WORK
A vaccine works by training the immune system to recognize and fight viruses or bacteria. To achieve this, antigens (certain molecules) from the virus or bacterium will be introduced into your body (often via an injection) in order to trigger an immune response.
By injecting these antigens into the body, the immune system can learn (safely) to recognize them, ‘tag them’ as dangerous invaders and produce antibodies to fight them. More importantly, the body learns to remember them (viruses or bacteria) in the event of future infections and fight them off before they overwhelm the body and cause sickness.
A potential Covid-19 vaccine will, undoubtedly, be an important step towards victory over this deadly disease. However, will an introduction of one vaccine be the ultimate game changer? Let us consider 3 reasons why it is unreasonable to believe so.
WHY ONE VACCINE IS NOT THE SOLUTION
1. A single vaccine will not work. Our bodies respond differently to infections. Same can be said of our responses to medications and vaccines. This explains why one particular (say anti-malaria) drug works well on one patient and not quite on the other. It also explains why it is such a laudable effort that different groups of scientists around the world are experimenting several approaches to developing Covid-19 vaccines.
Often, different vaccines work better in different groups of people. A true game changer will be the development of multiple potent vaccines for all. It is important to note that more than 100 vaccines are in various stages of development worldwide.
Speaking of their effort towards developing a competent vaccine for Covid-19, the Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson Alex Gorsky was quick to point out that one vaccine will not be the ultimate solution. He said, “I think it’s going to take multiple vaccines.” The company is currently aiming to begin clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks.
2. We still need a cure. There is a legitimate concern that an introduction of one vaccine could spark a total neglect of the many who would at the time be carriers of the disease. As at the time of this writeup, this translates to the over 6 million active cases of the virus worldwide.
And according to the WHO, 80% of confirmed infections of the virus are mild or asymptomatic. It is then safe to conclude, based on that statistics, that there are still other unreported infections around us. A drastic shift of all attention to a vaccine, therefore, could prove to be counterproductive as the virus could take advantage of the time lapses in distribution to hit harder.
3. Developing distribution systems must come before mass production. Taking a cue from the global struggle for and subsequent shortages of personal protective equipment (PPEs), one can be sure there is likely to be a mad rush for a vaccine should one be available. Like anything good, the affluent nations who coincidentally are the worst affected will do battle for the lion’s share. Where will the poor and vulnerable stand?
A statement on the Harvard Business Review reads: “With the development of potential vaccine for Covid-19 progressing quickly, we need to invest now in infrastructure for distributing a vaccine globally on an equitable basis as soon as it is proven safe and effective.”
I could not agree with that statement more. Production of the vaccine now seems more to be a question of when rather than if. The time to structure out exactly how equitable distribution will be achieved is NOW!
