COVID-19 Savior-The Vaccine
Ever since the virus pandemic has stormed our homes and mind space, the magic elixir, vaccine, various trials, success, human testing all are in headlines. How far are we towards a vaccine helping us become COVID immune?
The first typhoid vaccines were available as early as the 1890s, but with advancements and side effects, newer and safer formulations were introduced in 2018, which gives inactivated or live viruses to immune us from the virus. But, Typhoid or Malaria is very old diseases, and have been killing people for centuries. For us to get a vaccine almost right, it took us over 100 years of concerted efforts. Tropical countries that have warmer climates are conducive to the spread of the virus, and due to sanitation and water problems, major disease outbreaks have happened here.
Typical vaccine development takes about 20 years, due to various factors. EU leads the way in the virus or bacterial research. EU is a tight-knit of countries with very close borders and also happens to be closer to Africa or Asian countries. Historically as well, pharma companies were concentrated in Germany and Switzerland like Bayer, Roche, Merck, Abbott, etc.
Though health is wealth, it is wealth that gives us health
Vaccine development is not big money, because it is governments who order these in mass numbers, and they have to be priced cheap. Hence disease outbreaks that happened in millions were never noticed or fast-tracked and take their time for development. Also, the US which is the biggest pharma market in the world tends to have fewer bacteria/virus diseases afflicting tropical countries. Flu is very active, and you already have flu shots available rendering your immunity. It is the poorer masses in poor countries who were bearing the brunt of such disease. But COVID-19 has been a big leveler, it has affected all countries, all statuses and the global spread has been quick and fatal.
So, now everything has been fast-tracked, with a global market of 7 billion people to be vaccinated, with two shots at a minimum. We do not know if the acquired immunity is going to last long, hence the possibility of regular shots is not ruled out, creating the biggest continuous market for the vaccine. All pharma companies are in the race for money, health and bragging rights. The fastest time was for Ebola which took more than 5 years to develop. So you know the time crunch that is required for vaccine development.
We are looking for 50% immunity effectiveness against the virus in these vaccines. 50% is a huge number to achieve against the virus at the first shot in such a short span of time. And, it gradually increases with more clinical trials and studies. Also, mass human injections need to be manufactured with safety glass vials(glass vials are in short supply), the procedure of administration, priority for the population and the countries, all need to be streamlined. Though WHO stood for worldwide guidelines, and safety procedures, they are under-budget and lack powers to regulate the medical fraternity. It is the private sector to the rescue, with Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca all jumping in the fray to save the world. Of course, people would argue, they are doing it for money, but, anyone will be given the money if they have the vaccine power.
More than 150 vaccines are under development, it has to be administered and checked for effects and side effects. We cannot quicken to know how will it behave in a human after 100 days before 100 days. Worse outcomes will be the worse than the virus. Our human endeavor and scientific pursuit have led us miraculous breakthroughs and we trust our community for that. Now, all people want is hope, that we have a solution. Everyone knows the challenges of creating one, mass-producing, delivering, and getting your dosage near your clinic.
If a US vaccine works, we need to know if it works in Asians, and vice versa since our body types and immune systems are different.
So we have exploratory stage, preclinical stage, and phase 3 where, the vaccine is administered to tens, hundreds, and thousands of volunteers. Volunteers are chosen on the diversity factors like age, sex, pre-existing conditions, race, to validate the efficacy of vaccine among all profiles. We have had existing vaccines repurposed for COVID-19 like leprosy medicine, an antimalarial drug, but none have shown final progress and has been discontinued. Also, the virus was mutating into different strains, and the original RNA is different from the existing one, generating more problems for vaccine development. Since virus mutates, the India population COVID-19 virus seems to be different from the China strain. Inactivated vaccine, RNA based vaccine, plant-based, recombinant version, are various types in experimentation.
The challenge is, these take a long time, I mean a really long time. I know of my close friend who works in bacteria research in a top medical school in the USA. He works on a protein, smothers it, let it grow in a tissue, waits patiently for a day, notes the tiny delta result, if available, and does it all over again for hundreds of weeks in succession.
Patience is key, but now the time is a challenge.
Genetic vaccines, use the genes of the virus, to trigger an immune response. An effective vaccine should produce antibodies as well as T-cells. DNA based vaccines and mRNA based ones are all being developed. Who would win the race is the key, at stake, is not billions of dollars but literally billions of lives saved and hope for all battered humanity now. Viral Vector vaccines are another category, which uses a virus to deliver coronavirus genes to cells to trigger the immune response. Protein-based vaccines, whole virus versions, and repurposed vaccines are other types.
Versions, types, governments, methodology, cost, efficacy all point to one word-HOPE
Cheers to the future ourselves, celebrating the success of the vaccine and restoration of our old normal
