Is a COVID-19 Vaccine Coming, and Should We Get Our Hopes Up?

by Rishi Ganesh

COVID-19. The pandemic that has swept the globe, taking millions of lives with it. The first major pandemic in a century, the novel coronavirus has thrown off schedules, reunions, and the everyday lives of the people that are affected by it. (Spoiler alert: that’s everyone.) The way that the pandemic has changed each of our lives, while slightly different, is generally the same: It has turned them upside down. Instead of staying home and relaxing, we are now living our every day lives within a home, only leaving for essentials. Coronavirus has made the world switch into survival mode.

So now that quarantine has reached the stage where it seems endless, many are beginning to wonder what it will take for the stay-at-home orders to break. The major question circling everyone’s minds every single day is but one word: When? When will we be allowed to go about our normal lives? A week? A month? A year?

The truth is, while many people are anxious to get out of quarantine, most of us realize that we need to stay home. To wear a mask. But these solutions are only preventative, stagnant measures. Will we ever be free of the hold that the pandemic has on us? To many people, the answer is yes, but what will it take? The answer is simple: a vaccine.

A vaccine for coronavirus has become the rallying cry for many, the key to the other side of the door, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Two recent research projects have upped the population’s hopes for a treatment and a vaccine. In Oxford, steroid injection has been found to reduce the death rate in those already afflicted by the virus with little to no side effects. Additionally, a partnership between the biotech company Moderna and the National Institute of Health has yielded promising results for an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19.

These vaccines and treatments, if distributed to the public soon, have the power to stop the outbreak in its tracks, allowing the world to go outside without masks, living their normal lives, as long as they have been vaccinated. The power of vaccines versus a worldwide outbreak has been demonstrated time and time again. Take, for example, the polio virus. Polio was one of the most deadly infections at its height, crippling infected bodies’ nervous systems, rendering them paralyzed or dead. Additionally, it spread relatively easily, causing widespread fear, especially in third-world areas without proper early treatment. However, with the introduction of a vaccine, herd immunity began to be achieved and the virus died down.

So what is the goal of a vaccine?

Normally, it’s to achieve “herd immunity”. Herd immunity is where a large portion of the population becomes immune to a disease, either through contracting it and developing antibodies or through receiving a vaccination. Once this occurs, a measure of protection exists for those who are infected, so as not to spread it to other vulnerable people. In the case of COVID, post-infection immunity has not proven to consistently occur, so a vaccine is the best option. Once vaccines are developed, herd immunity can be achieved and the virus will die down.

However, there are two major obstacles to developing a vaccine: the sheer length of time that it takes to be released and the rise of a vaccine-hesitant section of the population, especially in the United States.

Vaccines must undergo rigorous testing and double-checking to make sure they are safe to be released to the public and are actually effective. Thus, the trial process must go through multiple stages, from research to animal testing to human testing to manufacturing to distribution. This takes far longer than most would think, anywhere from a year to a decade is in the plausible realm of possibility. However, since the coronavirus is currently a major world issue, it will be completed with urgency, landing it on the shorter side of the spectrum. However, that’s still a full year. While vaccine research has been going on since late 2019 and early 2020, it has a while to go before it will be ready to distribute to the public.

Another obstacle to achieving herd immunity through vaccines is the rise of the vaccine-hesitant group. Mostly made up of parents, “anti-vaxxers”, as they are colloquially called, worry about the contents of vaccines and their effectiveness, often linking them to conditions such as autism. While many of these viewpoints are incorrect and not thoroughly researched, it is easy to see where parents are coming from, not wanting to inject a substance into their child without knowing exactly what it contains and its possible effects. However, due to the process detailed in the previous paragraph, vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and do not contain any significant side effects. Therefore, these opinions, while emotionally justified, are logically incorrect.

Therefore, while a vaccine could very well be on the way for the world to use, it won’t be here as soon as we think. It has to go through tests to make sure it is safe for the population and that it actually works. Vaccines are undoubtedly the answer to the pandemic. However, they might not pull us out of quarantine just yet.