Are Covid-19 Vaccines The Keys To Freedom?

Would you take it if it was offered to you today?

- Dr. Edsel Mauricet T. Salvana

DR. EDSEL MAURICE T. SALVANA CLINICAL MATTERS

It was the “shot” that was seen and heard around the world. On Dec. 8, the first-ever ap-proved Covid-19 vaccine was given to a 90-year-old woman in the UK named Maggie. This became the first of many more vaccinations, marking a momentous shift in the battle against Covid-19.

The road to the Covid19 vaccine was far from certain. Many doubted that a safe and effective vaccine could be produced in less than a year. The fastest time to develop a vaccine was four years. That was for the mumps vaccine. The preclinical and clinical studies encompassing phase 1 to phase 3 clinical trials of vaccine development are daunting. As pointed out by many scientists, though, the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine did not start from scratch. This was not a rushed process. This vaccine has been in development for the past 17 years.

When the original SARS coronavirus epidemic occurred in 2002, there was a rush to identify its weak spots. One of its vulnerabilities is its spike protein, the little knobs that give the coronavirus its distinctive appearance. Spike protein enables the virus to attack and enter human cells. The 2002 SARS outbreak fortunately fizzled out, but this meant that no vaccines could be clinically evaluated. With no more active infections, vaccines could no longer be tested.