Vaccine credit shared by cast of thousands
With coronavirus vaccines, credit needs to be shared around. A Covid-19 vaccine developed by German firm BioNTech was the first to cross the finish line. Co-founders Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci — German doctor/scientists of Turkish heritage — developed it in less than a year.
The work is based on years of research into the messenger RNA approach. And the development incorporated collaborations with pioneering Hungarian mRNA scientist Katalin Kariko, a BioNTech vice-president, and Kathrin Jansen, German-born head of vaccine research and development at US pharma giant Pfizer.
With Pfizer’s help, the vaccine was tested by thousands in six nations, assessed by regulators in various nations and first approved for use in Britain. Margaret Keenan, 90, was officially the first person to get the jab, from doses manufactured in Belgium.
The newest vaccine off the rank, from Moderna (US), uses the same biotechnology and is the culmination of years of research into how an ability to control the immune system could result in a range of treatments for medical issues.
Another vaccine candidate from the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, has had some trial stumbles, but shapes as being hugely important because it is much cheaper and can be stored in normal fridges. Trials are ongoing for other options.
Leaders and some rich countries have tended to scrap over this scientific milestone just as they did to get medical protection supplies at inflated prices, battled over who was to blame for the virus spreading, and scrambled to hoard vaccine supplies. Excess nationalism, competition, politics, selfishness and division have been seen all year.
Actual results have instead come from pooling talents, planning, putting funds where they were needed and just aiming for a goal.
Medical professionals have striven to save people through months of exhaustion and at great risk. Essential workers kept life ticking over during lockdowns. People around the world who complied with restrictions made sacrifices.
Scientific expertise now offers hope in the form of vaccines, treatments and test kits. People from truck drivers to pilots to volunteers are involved in the vaccine distribution chain.
Some of the problems prevalent in the US this year — no national pandemic plan, lack of clear messaging and a weak federal role — are showing up with the country’s vaccine rollout.
Yesterday, governors and health leaders in at least 12 US states said the federal government had told them this week’s shipment of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine would be less than thought.
Pfizer said it had delivered 2.9 million doses that it was asked to ship by the federal government. It added that millions of unclaimed vaccines awaited distribution but it had no instructions about them.
The pandemic has exposed the world at its best and worst. The positive side can’t blot out the stain of the bad but can lessen some of the stress. Many would like 2021 to be an uptick.