On hope in the time of coronavirus

Airborne or insect-borne, humanity has struggled with disease throughout history. Shakespeare lived his entire life under the fear of death from the bubonic plague. Yet, it didn’t deter him. He wrote “Macbeth” and “Antony and Cleopatra,” “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Tempest” when London playhouses were mostly closed.

That was between 1606 and 1610, according to the New Yorker magazine piece on the plague. What kept him going? We wish we could travel back in time to ask.

But Paul Duprex, a molecular virologist at the helm of University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research, has a clue — “hope.”

That and resilience, we bet, kept the Bard striving for inspiration. We find ourselves stuck in that same loop. This pandemic doesn’t have a deadline. It will end. But when and how has yet to be revealed. But it’s no time to give up.

“Hope drives people,” Duprex told the Herald as he braved a flight back home to spend Christmas with his parents in Ireland this weekend. “There’s always hope.” Boston Herald

That hope, this pioneer paving a better future for humanity, includes vaccinations. COVID is “here to stay,” he said. And we will all be advised to get vaccinated for the near future.

His vision statement is to “improve human health on a global scale through research directed at the prevention, intervention, and therapy for infectious diseases that pose a serious threat to humanity.”

Humanity will endure by living realistically. That’s the message Duprex sent via FaceTime from the Emerald Isle. He’s the Jonas Salk Endowed Chair for Vaccine Research, a Carnegie Science Center award recipient — and he’s practical.

It’s all about risk management, he explained. We climb in cars, jump on trains and fly in jets. They all come with risks, but that’s life.

We’re living with a coronavirus that continues to sweep across the globe. When this wildfire will burn out is anyone’s guess. But smart people are attacking the problem with gusto.

Nobody likes to admit it, but we’re all destined to die. It’s part of life. Cancer is difficult to discuss. The flu can also kill. Now we have COVID-19 to contend with. The science is growing on what twists and turns the virus may take, but it will kill.

Booster shots guard against hospitalization. Pills are at the ready to help, too. Masks and social distancing, especially if you’re sick, just make common sense.

Nobody likes mandates. You could argue we don’t need them. Why? A sense of community and caring for others who need our help has always been the American way. That’s what is needed today.

Those who need help navigating through this pandemic should be able to pick up the phone and call someone who will assist — no questions asked!

“We can’t seal ourselves in a plastic bag,” Duprex said. “I don’t want to live my life in my house like a coffin.”

In this season of giving the best we can do is give science a chance. Strengthen our community along the way and look out for each other. Strive for personal goals and remain resilient.

“What’s past is prologue,” Shakespeare wrote in “The Tempest.”

History has brought us to the doorstep of a New Year when all the knowledge gained about pandemics has helped devise new treatments and vaccinations. We’ve survived outbreaks before and we will overcome this one, too.

It’s difficult to wait, but 2022 is bound to be better. We hope.