Finding A Vaccine

The Indian Express

In the United States, the pandemic has been ravaging through the country for months now, worse than it has any other place in the world. wearing a mask is a political statement and the coronavirus itself is a hoax to too many. it seems that the only hope for a return to normalcy is some sort of vaccine. but even if one does come to fruition within the next six months (as claimed by several of America’s top health experts), this globe health crisis is not going to just disappear without a trace. 

The process of creating a fully fledged vaccine is one that usually takes years, in order to maximize the safety and efficiency. It's split up into three phases: the first two are smaller trials meant to perfect the safety aspect, the third and final trial being a study on efficiency through the testing of around 30,000 people. As of early August, 6 possible vaccines have made it to this last phase, as well as 30 others currently making their way through the first two phases. (source)

In what is likely a last ditch effort to improve his poor polling numbers, President Trump has made several attempts to shift blame onto the CDC, as well as Dr. Fauci. Through his various tweeting sprees, Trump has made it clear that he no longer trusts the country's leading expert on infectious disease, calling Fauci "wrong" in his assertion that the United States failed in containing the virus because of the lack of economic shutdown (source). In that same tweet, Trump reiterated his claim that the rise in cases among Americans was solely due to higher testing—decreasing the testing would mean a decrease in cases. Countless pieces of statistical data have proven that this is simply not true, and it is yet just another baseless claim put forth by the Trump administration.

Having a vaccine ready for the world to use by the end of the year is not at all as easy at it seems, to the contrary. Besides the obvious hurdles presented by speeding up overall testing by a span of years, scientists and health experts will have to contend with the ever growing anti-vaxx movement. Though small in numbers and lacking in any sort of scientific evidence, anti-vaxxers have, particularly as of late, proven themselves to be potential setbacks in the step towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Even without a vaccine released to the public as of yet, the strong anti-mask minority within the United States is already preventing Americans from returning to any kind of normalcy. 

States like Georgia, led by governors who refuse to mandate masks amidst harrowing death tolls and increases in cases, have allowed for anti-maskers to propagate and spread misinformation. Georgia governor Brian Kemp even went so far as to sue the city of Atlanta for issuing a mask mandate, demonstrating how Kemp seemingly cares more for his authority being respected than the safety and wellbeing of his citizens. And while vaccines are less contestable and more of a staple in society than masks are, there's no saying as to whether or not the same situation will play over the same way in the next few months. 

Herd immunity is another important aspect that must be taken into consideration when thinking about how the Coronavirus vaccine is going to be released for widespread use. The idea of herd immunity is that if roughly 70% of the general population is vaccinated against a particular infection or virus, those who are unable to get the vaccine for any reason will be shielded from the pathogen by those around them. 

An important example is with the flu vaccine: seeing as there are thousands of kids and adults alike who are possibly allergic to the vaccine or are otherwise immunocompromised, the healthy members of society should get a vaccine, almost as a sort of moral obligation. The issue arises, however, when a growing list of individuals decry vaccination and not only endanger their own safety, but the health of everyone around them.

With schools across the country opening, students and teachers alike are worried about returning. Thousands of teachers have already quit or refused to teach in-person, with good reason. Without a vaccine, going back to school is riskier than ever before. While it is important to acknowledge that students may be more stressed under a virtual model, their safety as well as those of the school staff must be the utmost priority at this moment—that safety cannot be guaranteed without a vaccine.