Our government leaders must up their game to complete victory against COVID-19

The incredible opportunity that science has bought for all of humanity with the vaccines developed to stop the spread of COVID-19 means it is time — time to save lives, reduce hospitalizations, and open up our schools and economy. That advantage will be lost, however, if it is not implemented with the same urgency, collaboration and amazing skill that went into creating the vaccines and making them so speedily available to society. It is deeply dispiriting to see Canada’s vaccine rollout stall amid global comparisons while people who need the vaccine continue to get sick.

As one who is familiar with the scientific process, I know that the effort that has gone into finding ways to test for, prevent, and treat COVID-19 is nothing short of astonishing, even when compared to the massive push to do the same for HIV-AIDS, Ebola and H1N1. We also are awestruck at the speed with which the SARS-COV-2 vaccines have been developed, and elated at how effective and safe they are.

From my experience in treating patients with COVID-19 I have seen firsthand how potentially devastating a disease it can be: within a mere few hours, patients can go from needing low level care to requiring life-support with mechanical ventilation. Despite our best efforts, I have seen the limitations of existing and new therapies to treat COVID-19. Our best treatment, corticosteroids — an old standby in clinical medicine when “nothing else works” — reduces mortality by about one-third. Other treatments, including antiviral agents, anti-inflammatory drugs and convalescent plasma, have marginal or no benefit, and some are even harmful.

The absence of highly effective treatments for COVID-19 coupled with the desire for our society to reopen our schools, revitalize our economy, and resume healthy social activities places vital urgency on the one thing that will prevent disease and restore normalcy in our society: vaccines.

It’s easy to forget that at the start of the pandemic experts were warning an 18-month timeline for delivering safe and effective vaccines might be too optimistic. At this time last year, there was uncertainty as to whether a vaccine would work at all: we were dealing with a new virus and there were no effective vaccines for other coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

But the unparalleled, wartimelike mobilization of scientific skill, resources, and dedication to a common goal culminated in producing not one, but multiple effective and safe vaccines, of which several are in current use or poised to become available. Scientists, research institutes, manufacturers, and governments worked together with astonishing speed, while at the same time not sacrificing any of the scientific and ethical checks and balances imperative in developing these vaccines, especially in this time of widespread misinformation and vaccination skepticism.

In the face of this massive worldwide effort and amazing scientific advances, it is incredibly frustrating to see this achievement being held up by what should be less challenging problems: procuring doses and getting vaccines into the bodies of the people who need it in a timely manner. Even weeks of delay can mean more hospitalizations and more deaths.

Social distancing and masks are important components to prevent virus transmission but they are being implemented to buy us time, which they have done, until a vaccine is available. Ultimately, the vaccine is the surest way we have to prevent virus spread and disease.

Earlier this year, I was a signatory to a letter by 14 Mcmaster professors of medicine sent to federal and provincial government leaders, urging accelerated and sustained action on the procurement, distribution and administration of vaccines.

We have not lost sight of the complexity of delivering an uneven supply of a fragile and life-saving commodity fairly across our massive country and can sympathize with those in government who bear a heavy responsibility to get this job done. However, the reality is we need to do better — far better — and expect the same level of commitment from governments as that shown by our scientists, doctors, nurses and many others.

The scientific community, alongside thousands of front-line health-care workers, have carried the ball to the one-yard line. Now, our government leaders need to up their game and carry the ball across the goal-line.

It is deeply dispiriting to see Canada’s vaccine rollout stall amid global comparisons while people who need the vaccine continue to get sick