The coronavirus pandemic has reached a grim milestone.
In the 10 months since people became aware of a mysterious pneumonia-like illness spreading across cities and nations across the globe, COVID-19 has claimed more lives than HIV, dysentery and malaria. Yet, the virus that has, in months, plunged the world into a standstill, paralyzed economies, and altered our everyday lives into a new normal, still shows no signs of slowing down.
As of Monday (September 28), the death toll from coronavirus has crossed the one million mark, per John Hopkins University’s database. Over one million lives lost prematurely. Over one million families grieving the loved ones they lost.
However, while some countries still continue to struggle to curb the spread of the disease, countries like China, Germany, South Korea and New Zealand have shown that it is possible to significantly slow and limit the spread of infection and deaths – to the point of reopening businesses and schools.
Practicing precautionary measures like wearing a mask, social distancing, hand hygiene, and avoiding congregating in large numbers have been proven to be effective at keeping the number of infections down.
“It’s all an ecosystem. It all works together,” Martha Nelson, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health who specializes in epidemics and viral genetics studying Covid-19, said.
At a Senate appropriations committee hearing earlier this month, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield continued to urge Americans to continue wearing face masks.
“These face masks are the most important, powerful public health tool we have,” Dr. Redfield said, holding up a blue face mask.
“If we did it for six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, we’d bring this pandemic under control,” he said.
“I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don’t get an immune response, the vaccine’s not going to protect me. This face mask will.”
The race to find a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus – the virus that causes COVID-19 – continues at an unprecedented rate. There are over 100 vaccines in development around the world, with several in various phases of human trials. Three companies are beginning Phase 3 of clinical trials in the U.S.: AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer/BioNTech.
However, while many view the vaccine as the light at the end of the tunnel, discovering a safe and effective vaccine is only the first step.
Health experts have noted that one way the virus can be stopped in its tracks is when herd immunity occurs – this is when enough people (around 60% or 70% of the population) develop an immune response, either through previous infection or vaccination. If the virus can’t find susceptible hosts to infect, it won’t be able to spread easily.
While this is the ultimate goal of a vaccine, producing enough to distribute and inoculate the 7 billion people living around the world will also take time.
“If you’re asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public, so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we’re probably looking at third, late second quarter, third quarter 2021,” Dr. Redfield had said.
However, according to Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief science officer at the World Health Organization in Geneva, life returning to the pre-COVID normal might even be longer than that.
“We’re looking at 2022 at least before enough people start getting the vaccine to build immunity,” said Dr. Swaminathan said during a virtual meeting hosted by the United Nations Foundation earlier this month.
Until then, he urges everyone to continue practicing the safety measures advised by health experts. “So, for a long time to come, we have to maintain the same kind of measures that are currently being put in place with physical distancing, the masking and respiratory hygiene.”
Take care. Stay safe. Be Kind.
