Humankind faces the greatest challenge since World War 2 which is the new pandemic. COVID 19 has spread throughout the World from China to Europe. Nations from around the World are working together to get rid of this coronavirus. This virus puts national health systems worldwide under extreme pressures. The future of the World depends on the healthcare workers and scientists. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said: ¨Never was so much owed by so many to so few.¨ Health professionals work tirelessly to fight this virus; the World greatly relies on health professionals. Humankind has never been more united against this invisible enemy that is COVID 19. Nations have developed a national plan to fight COVID 19 that is to use social distancing and flattening the curve in order to allow the national healthcare systems to treat patients infected by the virus. Several nations work on treatments, drugs, and vaccines to put an end to this pandemic.
To begin with, the World strategies to deal with this medical crisis are to use social distancing and mobilizing all emergency resources is essential to fight corona virus. Several national and subnational governments have declared states of emergency Worldwide. The purpose of a state of emergency is to suspend rights and freedoms in order to cope with a national crisis. COVID 19 is an unparalleled crisis in modern human history. Therefore, everyone has to participate in this war against COVID 19. For instance, Japanese Prime Minister Abe told his people: ¨To be frank, we cannot win this battle through the efforts of the government alone.¨ As a result, every single citizen of the World has to contribute to Earth`s battle against COVID 19. Above all, Humankind has the technology, means of communication, and the spirit to get united against a common enemy: COVID 19. Bloomberg reveals in March 2020 that this pandemic could cost about U.S. $2.7 trillion to World`s economy which could trigger a recession. Nevertheless, every government considers that health prevails over economy; thus, governments have mobilized all their medical resources and they closed non-essential businesses to contain the virus. Besides, several nations work on medical solutions in order to end this World crisis.
For instance, the U.S. Government has approved plasma therapy treatment to cure corona virus on infected people. This treatment is the transfer of antibodies from recovered patients to sick patients. This is a very old treatment that sometimes works. This treatment has been used in the 1918 flu, SARS, and Ebola to varying degrees of success. However, the government needs to find recovered patients in order to make it a true solution. The New York Blood Center has begun to collect plasma from recovered patients and several medical experts are hopeful that this treatment works. A single plasma donor could cure two or three people if the treatment is effective.
Moreover, there are several vaccines in development. One of the most promising vaccines is developed by Moderna, a Cambridge U.S.A based company. The vaccine currently undergoes clinical trials and many people are very hopeful about this vaccine. Moderna is now a World leader in this medical battle to find a way to fight pandemic and the new vaccine uses synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) to be immunized against the virus. The National Post reveals in March 2020 that this treatment can be developed and manufactured much quicker than traditional vaccines. Therefore, this modern approach to develop a medical solution could be the fastest way to get rid of COVID 19 if this really works. The purpose of the vaccine is to allow someone’s immune system to be stronger if the system gets in contact with COVID 19. Nevertheless, developing a vaccine is not an easy task and this often ends up in failure. Therefore, nations must invest in several vaccine projects in order to get a single one that truly works.
Likewise, a Hong Kong-Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences partnership has developed a vaccine. This vaccine will undergo clinical trials in Wuhan, People`s Republic of China. China works very fast to find a real vaccine against COVID 19; therefore, there are unprecedented efforts to develop true solutions against COVID 19 by China. The vaccine was tested on animals and until now is considered safe. The clinical trials will go throughout the current year. Global Times reports that vaccinated participants seem immune to the virus as shown in Phase 1 Trial. However, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that a vaccine would not be available before at least 6 months.
As well, several medical experts think that the Calmette Guerin vaccine, a tuberculosis vaccine, is the right solution to quickly and safely fight COVID 19. Dutch and Australian Scientists are very hopeful about this vaccine in the great medical battle. For that reason, Australia gives to all Melbourne healthcare workers the 100 year old tuberculosis vaccine that could prevent workers from getting COVID 19. 4,000 workers in Australia will be given the vaccine. This promising vaccine is currently used against tuberculosis in some parts of the World and as a common immunotherapy for early stage bladder cancer, and now it is tested against the corona virus. Nigel Curtis, head of infectious diseases research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, says that: “it can boost the immune system so that it defends better against a whole range of different infections, a whole range of different viruses and bacteria in a lot more generalized way.” Therefore, this medical solution could be very promising because the tuberculosis vaccine is administered every year to 130 newborns that makes it very safe to give to everyone. Professor Curtis cannot guarantee that this works; however, he thinks that people have to try it. Thus, Australia shows leadership in this fight against the corona virus.
Furthermore, Canadian medical scientists from McGill University study the benefits of the chloroquine medicine. McGill University and researchers in Manitoba, Alberta, and the U.S. State of Minnesota wants to get 3,000 volunteers to participate in this study on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID 19. As a result, some researchers think that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine could be used as a treatment against COVID 19. Nevertheless, there is no published literature that can illustrate that these compounds can treat the disease. McGill University explains online that: ¨the theory is that these drugs interfere with the ability of the virus to attach to receptors on cells, which is a prelude to invading the cell and hijacking the cell’s machinery to replicate. A virus cannot replicate by itself and has to use a cell's machinery to do so. If it cannot enter a cell, it cannot replicate.¨ Therefore, the university studies how this drug interacts with the virus. This could be very promising since some trials in French showed that patients treated with chloroquine recovered quickly.
As a result, researchers race to find a vaccine to end this World pandemic. There are more than 40 vaccines in development. Scientists try to find a vaccine using different technologies and scientific approaches. For instance, Canada`s Laval University uses reverve engineering to develop a vaccine. Laval University has had some success against Zika and MERS viruses. Therefore, Laval University scientists are hopeful to develop a vaccine to end this pandemic. On the other hand, University of Alberta works on a DNA vaccine for the COVID 19. DNA based vaccines aim at tricking the immune system into a response. These vaccines are easier to manufacture at scale and they offer greater stability. Canada is a leader in vaccine development because it developed the Ebola vaccines in the 2010s. Canadian VSV-EBOV vaccine saved hundreds of lives in Africa. Therefore, the Canadian expertise in vaccine development can be used to end the COVID 19 pandemic.
Correspondingly, there are different approaches to create a vaccine in this scientific race. James Gallagher writes on BBC in April 2020 that some scientists try to use the ¨plug and play¨ method. This means that scientists could put small sections of the COVID 19`s genetic code into a harmless virus. This harmless virus could provide some immunity. Besides, people can infect each other’s with the harmless virus which could create strong herd immunity against COVID 19. Therefore, this modern type of vaccine could be great to immunize the planet if this serum works.
Also, a growing number of people think that wearing masks could slow down the pandemic. For instance, Canadian Dr. Bonnie Henry, the top B.C. health officer, considers recommending the general use of non-medical masks in order to fight the virus. In April 2020, the Japanese Government will send reusable cloth face masks to roughly 50 million households. These masks could help Japanese to be protected from COVID 19. These masks can be used multiple times. National and prefectural governments encourage Japanese to avoid poorly ventilated spaces with large crowds. They support social distancing as a meaning stop the virus. Nevertheless, this new strategy of mask distribution is meant to prevent the curve from increasing more.
Finally, there are several ways to stop this pandemic. Social distancing is excellent to slow down the spread of the virus to allow healthcare systems to cure people who need to be hospitalized. However, this is not the only way to stop the virus and some people, like the Japanese, think that people should wear masks in public spaces to stop the spread. Nevertheless, the best way to stop the pandemic is to have vaccines. This is why several nations work tirelessly to develop vaccines and treatments. On the other hand, some scientists think that reusing molecules from old medicine could allow finding a treatment in a very short period of time. Nowadays, health professionals and scientists are troops from around the World are now fighting for humankind. The United States, China, Japan, U.K., Germany, Russia, Mexico, France, Canada, and the rest of the World are all united together to win against COVID 19. This spirit of unity aims at being victorious as a race and a family of nations. Great leader Sir Winston Churchill once describes what the spirit to win a war is: ¨Victory. Victory at all costs—Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.¨ Therefore, Social distancing, solidarity, scientific research, and supporting healthcare systems will allow us to win over COVID 19. We have to remain hopeful that scientists will find a vaccine and a cure against the new virus. This is just a matter of time that armies of scientists and health professionals defeat COVID 19.
April 4, 2020