Will you be around when the vaccine is found?

Jul 24, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Where politicians are failing, scientists are succeeding. The challenge before all of us is how to stay alive until science finds a solution to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The pandemic is ravaging the world. Fifteen million persons have been infected by the coronavirus globally. More than 600, 000 deaths have occurred worldwide. And the situation is not getting any better.
Great progress, however, is being made in the development of a vaccine. While a vaccine may not be ready for September, it is now highly possible that it may be ready by the end of the year. However, there is still an outside chance of a vaccine being ready by the end of September.
There have been a number of positive developments in recent months in treatment regimens. A few days ago it was announced that a protein known as interferon beta was found to be highly effective in treating COVID-19 patients. The drug, which can be inhaled through the mouth, has been found to reduce the risk of severe illness by almost 80%. That is a positive finding which suggests that the drug is effective. It has also been found to reduce hospitalization by as much as one-third.
Even though the trial was conducted on 100 persons, the findings represent an important breakthrough in preventing the disease developing into a serious illness and in helping to prevent local health care systems being overwhelmed. Once serious illness can be reduced significantly by the treatment, massive number of lives can be saved.
The Cubans have long led the way with the use of a drug called interferon alpha-2b to treat COVID-19 patients. Cuba has used this drug in the treatment of different conditions since 1981. In March this year, Nicholas Maduro, the President of Venezuela, announced that interferon had been found to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
It is not clear whether interferon alpha-2b is related to interferon beta which was trialed in the United Kingdom. But 15 countries have asked Cuba for the drug which was also successfully used to treat patients in Wuhan, China where the virus is believed to have originated.
The Americans had authorized the use of a drug called Remdesivir for patients. It was found to help patients recover quickly. But the pharmaceutical companies were quick to capitalize by charging an exorbitant sum for this drug. A course of the drug costs US$3,100 which puts it beyond the pockets of the average Guyanese.
The University of Oxford, more than a month ago, announced positive findings in the use of a cheap and widely available drug called Dexamethasone. This sterioid was found to reduce mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients. However, the drug was said to have little effect on patients who were not considered serious.
In Guyana, doctors treating critical COVID-19 cases have been said to be using antibodies treatment. The results, which are from an extremely small number of patients, show favourable results. More work has to be done in the area but the same treatment is being tried overseas. What essentially is taking place in Guyana, is that the antibodies from patients who have recovered from the virus are being used to treat extremely serious cases where there is no other option left.
The big breakthrough, however, is likely to come with the production of a vaccine. Human trials are being undertaken at present with a number of experimental vaccines. The reports have so far been satisfactory. There is still a far way to go before the vaccines can past the rigorous standards required for approval.
It is expected that by the end of the year a vaccine is going to be available. But this is five months away. In the meantime, the virus continues to result in extreme high levels of fatalities. As at yesterday, more than 600,000 persons had died from the virus, most of them since March. The world cannot afford another 600,000 deaths before a vaccine is found. Over the past seven days, close to 33,000 persons have died. This is among the highest seven-day death toll since the virus began.
Studies have shown that the virus is becoming more contagious without any decline in its mortality. Why the death rates do not now appear as high as before is because of more testing. It has nothing to do with the virulence of the disease.
Guyanese have to continue to take precautions. They have to try to survive until a vaccine is found. Science will come to the rescue of humanity. But let us hope that most of us will be around when the ultimate breakthrough is made in the production of a workable vaccine.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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