Vaccine work shows progress

Hope of way back to normality

WITH OVER 600,000 recorded deaths across the globe linked to coronavirus and the drastic economic consequences of the pandemic just beginning to play out, the world is pinning its hopes on science to offer a road back to normality - and there are some increasingly hopeful signs.

The news that a potential vaccine being developed by Oxford University is safe and induces an immune reaction, according to its preliminary results, follows

Kate Bingham, chairwoman of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, saying she is hopeful of a vaccine by the end of the year.

Efforts are now under way to recruit 500,000 volunteers in the UK by October to test new vaccines and treatments.

The promising developments following an unprecedented global effort to find a vaccine come with plenty of caveats.

Ms Bingham said we may never get a vaccine that prevents people from catching the virus; a view echoed by Boris Johnson who said we cannot count on the emergence of a vaccine at this stage.

But Mr Johnson also said that the “sheer weight of international effort” will produce some forms of treatment - and indeed preliminary results of a clinical trial from UKcompany Synairgen has suggested its new protein treatment has the potential to drastically cut the number of Covid patients needing intensive care.

Even with all the entirely understandable notes of caution, the efforts to create a safe and effective global Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible are truly extraordinary; not least when you consider that Covid-19 did not even exist this time last year.

Let us hope that in time, humanity’s collective efforts to conquer coronavirus - from the imposition of lockdowns affecting billions to the specialist scientific research taking place around the world - may come to be seen as one of our greatest achievements.