Race for the vaccine

In this column published on Feb. 1, 2020 entitled, “Disease X factory,” we made mention of the Netflix “Explained” series episode titled “The Next Pandemic”that described how the coronavirus could spread from the wet markets in China referred to as disease X factory. Bill Gates was interviewed and he warned that it would takes years to find a cure should a new form of virus emerge. I wrote that scientists are working at breakneck speed to develop a silver bullet to stop the outbr eak.

Since the outbreak, there have been 25,884,895 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with number of deaths reaching a staggering 859,130 as of Sept. 3. This has become personal to a number of us, with friends and acquaintances succumbing to the virus.

There can be no end to this pandemic until the vaccine is discovered, distributed and injected to those who are in need. Hopefully it will come sooner than later. In the US, there is mention of an “October surprise,” as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scheduled the distribution of a vaccine by Nov. 1. Some experts are questioning how this is possible and warn that the US government may be cutting corners to get the vaccine out,

Active cases in the City of San Fernando is at 114 cases while there are 176 active cases in Angeles City alone. Active cases in Guagua is at 132 cases.

A surge in corona virus infection is also happening in the towns of Mexico (71), Santa Rita (62), Lubao (62) and Porac (61).