Since the start of 2020, we have had many events and concerns tearing through the headlines. Some examples include rising tension between the US and Iran, Australia’s raging bushfires and lastly, the one which has affected humans the most being the worldwide spread of the lethal Covid-19. The medical community have been persevering day and night, sacrificing their lives while working on the frontlines. As the number of deaths through Covid-19 has been increasing, some of us may be wondering when medical experts will prepare a vaccine and whether they will release it in time.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the news, it may please you to know that a vaccine has been starting to get developed and has reached a key stage on the 23rd of April right here, in England. Health secretary, Matt Hancock, has given a sum of £20 million for funding the development of the vaccine at the University of Oxford and another £22.5 million for another prototype at Imperial College London. Recently, human trials have begun for the vaccines on April 23rd, which in itself is a big achievement. We may have many doses of it by Autumn if all goes smoothly in clinical trials, another remarkable achievement, considering that clinical trials take 6-7 years of testing, research and development on average.
It is extremely necessary to have a vaccine for the Coronavirus and soon, because of how fast the disease spreads and the large population of the world that are vulnerable to the disease. It seems that we are currently in the process of making one, but how likely is it that the vaccine will be effective?
It is speculated that around 60-70% of the world’s population will need to be vaccinated in order to stop the spread of the disease. This means that billions need to be immunised which may be a difficult, arduous and time-taking task. There may be a small chance that the disease may have spread even more during that. However, if all goes well and promptly, billions of lives will have been protected and saved.
Also, the vaccine may not be as effective in older people because of their weaker immune systems. Vaccines work through releasing a very small part of the disease to your immune systems, which sense the invader and fight against it by producing specific antibodies. When exposed to the real disease your immune system immediately recognises it and produces the same antibodies to fight against it. However, older people tend to have more fragile immune systems, which could mean that they may not respond well to the immunization. This is a huge problem since the older generation is the most prone to the disease.
With all these rising concerns and doubts about the Covid-19 vaccines, how likely is it that they will actually work?
By Jayashree Parimita, Gumley House
