With a new COVID-19 symptom being reported every day along with the treatment trials, the proper vaccine for the infection is yet to be discovered. As many of the world leaders collaborate under the ACT Accelerator program to develop a vaccine accessible to all to fight back Coronavirus, there seems a ray of hope towards a COVID-19-free ambiance very soon.
Scientists and researchers are continuously trying to develop a vaccine or effective treatment to control the pandemic, but science takes time. It is not only the development of the vaccine but its trials too that need to yield convincing results to be launched for doctors’ use without any doubt. Until now, the recovery rates of Coronavirus have been remarkable, and the reason is the antibodies that are developed to fight against the infection by boosting the immunity of the infected people.
“We need to prepare for a world where we don’t have a vaccine,” Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease Professor Ravi Gupta from Cambridge Institute told Huffington Post. “To base public policy on the hope of a vaccine is a desperate measure.”
“We should hope for a vaccine but we shouldn’t expect one in the next year and a half. Anyone who says we can is bonkers.”
According to the World Health Organisation, only two to three percent of the population of the world has developed antibodies that can resist and fight the virus. It also stated that the time period until which the antibodies are effective is remains unknown. Given the unpredictable effectiveness of the antibodies and the time-consuming vaccine development process, it is important to have a Plan C ready to fight the virus.
What can this Plan C be? It is the change in the lifestyle that is to be brought about to control the pandemic situation.
“The curve of the COVID-19 epidemic has been flattened in many countries around the world, and it hasn’t been new antivirals or a vaccine that has done it,” Professors Tammy Hoffmann and Paul Glasziou from Bond University wrote. “We are being saved by non-drug interventions such as quarantine, social distancing, handwashing, and – for healthcare workers – masks and other protective equipment.”
When the virus doesn’t get new hosts to replicate, the situation is likely to be under control. Even WHO spokesman Takeshi Kasai seconded the thought in an international media briefing that the world needs to adapt to the new lifestyle “at least until a vaccine, or a very effective treatment, is found.”