Corona Pandemic: Annus horribilis : 2020
“Annus horribilis “ is a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year”. 2020 fits that phrase like a glove. A year that started with promise for many globally ,will forever live in infamy for what it has wrought to mankind everywhere.The numbers associated with the covid-19 pandemic are not only mind boggling but are truly catastrophic , scary and unbelievable!
Globally as of today 72,957,238 people are infected, there are over 1,623,864 deaths and counting. In the USA 16,520,408 are infected not to mention 300,494 dead and the numbers keep changing in a northerly direction every hour.
Nevertheless, mankind has always been imbued with a resilience to meet any challenges that may come our way. As I write this article drug makers have achieved the almost impossible by creating highly effective vaccines to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Two of them namely Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna have had their vaccines approved or on the verge of approval in the USA , the European Union and Canada.
The World Health Organization has a stated standard for a vaccine. It has to be efficacious and also safe when administered. So far the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have met that threshold. Their efficacy is over 90% meaning that in clinical trials , the two vaccines have been effective against the Covid-19 virus.
Just like in any past vaccines or medicines the drug makers have pointed to possible side effects as witnessed during their clinical trials. There has been pain, redness or swelling around the injection site, headache chills , muscle pain and some joint pains at times. I would dare say these are mere inconveniences on the path towards a Covid-19 free world.
I am not here to sugarcoat the daunting task the world faces ,in the race from the lab to the patient . That race has been dubbed by scientists and logisticians as “ the last mile race to the patient “. The global population is around 7 billion people. The vaccines available require two doses and that adds up to 15 billion doses globally.
Storage of the vaccines is a dire task . The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine requires a -70degree Celsius temperature . Dry ice for refilling specialized delivery containers will be required to supply such a vaccine. The moderna vaccine will need to be frozen but is stable at regular freezer temperatures.
A logistics expert had this uncanny description of this daunting vaccine delivery task- “ it is like putting two iPhones in the hands of every single human on the planet, and making sure those iPhones are cold when they get there”.
To transport the vaccines, refrigerated and freezer trucks, planes, ships and trains that can transport such chilly goods are in short supply. Remember the same equipment is used currently to deliver the global food supplies. There will certainly be a trade off if the vaccine administration has to work.
Pfizer has created shipping containers nicknamed “pizza boxes” for their resemblance to boxes used to deliver that food item. Those “ pizza boxes” contain dry ice which can keep the vaccines safe.Dry ice is not totally safe. It sublimates / turns directly into carbon dioxide gas . Such fumes can build up and suffocate people if the ventilation is poor in a particular setting.
Portable freezers that go as low as 80 degree Celsius have also been considered as a solution to the storage quagmire.
A dosing dilemma beckons too. Medical Authorities have to keep track of who got vaccinated and which vaccine they got as both doses have to come from the same company. When people are due for their second dose should also be known. Physical spaces where the vaccines are to be administered to people quickly and efficiently have to be available.
The vaccines are stored in glass vials made out of surgical grade sand. Their constant supply and availability is a prerequisite. Globally we need some serious reorganization to see this process of vaccination done successfully. As the vaccines cannot be administered lightning quick we all need to have universal mask wearing in place, social distancing and washing of hands too. Numbers like the 3,000 deaths per day in the USA have to be contained through the above measures amongst many others or millions will be lost even before the vaccines can be fully administered.
Vaccine deniers and conspiracy theorists have to be checked at the door with scientific facts . “A herd or population immunity is the concept in which a population can be protected from a certain virus , if a threshold of vaccination is reached”. The American immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci has stated that the ideal threshold for herd immunity is about 75% of a given population getting vaccinated.
We can achieve these feat . The technological advances at hand have made man be capable of achieving what was once a five year ordeal in months. I am talking about the availability of vaccines. Surely logistics can be mitigated with the resources that the world should unleash to save ourselves. Ceasefires are a beginning in war zones so that vaccinations can be carried out.
“Annus horribilis “ is a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year”. 2020 fits that phrase like a glove. A year that started with promise for many globally ,will forever live in infamy for what it has wrought to mankind everywhere.The numbers associated with the covid-19 pandemic are not only mind boggling but are truly catastrophic , scary and unbelievable!
Globally as of today 72,957,238 people are infected, there are over 1,623,864 deaths and counting. In the USA 16,520,408 are infected not to mention 300,494 dead and the numbers keep changing in a northerly direction every hour.
Nevertheless, mankind has always been imbued with a resilience to meet any challenges that may come our way. As I write this article drug makers have achieved the almost impossible by creating highly effective vaccines to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic. Two of them namely Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna have had their vaccines approved or on the verge of approval in the USA , the European Union and Canada.
The World Health Organization has a stated standard for a vaccine. It has to be efficacious and also safe when administered. So far the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have met that threshold. Their efficacy is over 90% meaning that in clinical trials , the two vaccines have been effective against the Covid-19 virus.
Just like in any past vaccines or medicines the drug makers have pointed to possible side effects as witnessed during their clinical trials. There has been pain, redness or swelling around the injection site, headache chills , muscle pain and some joint pains at times. I would dare say these are mere inconveniences on the path towards a Covid-19 free world.
I am not here to sugarcoat the daunting task the world faces ,in the race from the lab to the patient . That race has been dubbed by scientists and logisticians as “ the last mile race to the patient “. The global population is around 7 billion people. The vaccines available require two doses and that adds up to 15 billion doses globally.
Storage of the vaccines is a dire task . The Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine requires a -70degree Celsius temperature . Dry ice for refilling specialized delivery containers will be required to supply such a vaccine. The moderna vaccine will need to be frozen but is stable at regular freezer temperatures.
A logistics expert had this uncanny description of this daunting vaccine delivery task- “ it is like putting two iPhones in the hands of every single human on the planet, and making sure those iPhones are cold when they get there”.
To transport the vaccines, refrigerated and freezer trucks, planes, ships and trains that can transport such chilly goods are in short supply. Remember the same equipment is used currently to deliver the global food supplies. There will certainly be a trade off if the vaccine administration has to work.
Pfizer has created shipping containers nicknamed “pizza boxes” for their resemblance to boxes used to deliver that food item. Those “ pizza boxes” contain dry ice which can keep the vaccines safe.Dry ice is not totally safe. It sublimates / turns directly into carbon dioxide gas . Such fumes can build up and suffocate people if the ventilation is poor in a particular setting.
Portable freezers that go as low as 80 degree Celsius have also been considered as a solution to the storage quagmire.
A dosing dilemma beckons too. Medical Authorities have to keep track of who got vaccinated and which vaccine they got as both doses have to come from the same company. When people are due for their second dose should also be known. Physical spaces where the vaccines are to be administered to people quickly and efficiently have to be available.
The vaccines are stored in glass vials made out of surgical grade sand. Their constant supply and availability is a prerequisite. Globally we need some serious reorganization to see this process of vaccination done successfully. As the vaccines cannot be administered lightning quick we all need to have universal mask wearing in place, social distancing and washing of hands too. Numbers like the 3,000 deaths per day in the USA have to be contained through the above measures amongst many others or millions will be lost even before the vaccines can be fully administered.
Vaccine deniers and conspiracy theorists have to be checked at the door with scientific facts . “A herd or population immunity is the concept in which a population can be protected from a certain virus , if a threshold of vaccination is reached”. The American immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci has stated that the ideal threshold for herd immunity is about 75% of a given population getting vaccinated.
We can achieve these feat . The technological advances at hand have made man be capable of achieving what was once a five year ordeal in months. I am talking about the availability of vaccines. Surely logistics can be mitigated with the resources that the world should unleash to save ourselves. Ceasefires are a beginning in war zones so that vaccinations can be carried out.