COVID-19 VACCINE

The rate at which vaccines are being tested in order to treat COVID-19 is astounding. The speed at which scientists and doctors have developed and are now testing these vaccines is quite unheard of around the world. An article by NBC News states how it took scientists twenty months to perform the first clinical trial for SARS, whereas now the first clinical trials for COVID-19 are being implementing in around two months. There are many different things to consider regarding this new vaccine. Testing has been so rapid that there will definitely be concern regarding the long-term effects of a vaccine like this. However, the various trials going on in the U.S and around the world could be the hope people have been looking for, an end to this dangerous virus.

Currently, as testing continues and as clinical trials are underway, new questions arise regarding the vaccine. The question a recent Nature article asks is simply, “If a coronavirus vaccine arrives, can the world make enough?” This is a sobering reality that many are starting to become more aware of. If in the next year we can finalize a vaccine that works, will we will be able to make it available to everyone? Scientists believe that RNA and DNA based vaccines are the simplest and easiest currently to make a large scale. Hopefully, testing involving such vaccines will prove successful. There are many of such tests occurring around the globe, and the world’s best scientists are coming together in order to develop a vaccine.

One current study has recently showed that a certain coronavirus vaccine similar to one used against MERS has developed antibody responses in mice. This specific work being done at the University of Pittsburgh is showing promising potential as testing continues. This specific vaccine could “be made quickly and at large-scale” according to scientists involved. Hopefully, testing will prove successful soon. We should not rush this process because we want the vaccine to be the most effective and the safest it can be, but we are also in a world crisis currently. The more time that goes by, the more people are infected. Hopefully, our world can come together, and this will all be over very soon.