We busted the Vaccine Myth ! Or … Did We ?
Vaccine production … Yes ! Vaccine administration … Umm !
Sharad’s Sunday Sojourns (week # 467 | 28th Mar 2021):
“The first nation to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 could have an economic advantage as well as a tremendous public-health achievement. Doses will be limited initially as suppliers ramp up, and a country will focus on inoculating most of its own population first.” … Scott Gottlieb.
We waited with batted breath last year the same time nearby, as the preliminary onslaughts of the pandemic prepared to roll down its ugly but steady juggernaut, with an exponential influence. Even at that time around, one persistent query was, whether we would be able to quickly roll out an effective vaccine, even though only moderately effective. We knew that the stakes were against us, since the path to the evolution of any vaccine is cumbersome, laden with regulatory impediments. But somehow, the extraordinary scientific progress has made the impossible possible, and the unachievable achieved. Refrigeration or room temperature, mRNA or adenovirus, whichever doubts we concurred, opened the doors to variable extents, and a clear road was visible, to a brighter horizon!
And then, as they say, the rest was history! Only this time around, vehement expectations were only partially rewarded. Reasons were as diverse as the frozen soil from Siberia or the Arctic, to the sticky mud of the Indian peninsula! Logistics, counter allergic reactions, slow rollout, public perception towards the different technologies to produce the vaccines, which one to consider and which one to denounce? Who, after all, is so naïve to leave out Pfizer-BioNTech and /or Moderna, in favour of AstraZeneca, when one fine morning you discover that brain swelling is on the cards? However, the point is not solely the public apathy or the consequent medical community assurance. It’s something more vicious, and that’s what brings the dark side into play.
What became a constant source of surprise to me, is how the countries handled the vaccination drives post development? It is not a news that the United Kingdom and Israel have drawn the first blood quite effectively, despite being not exactly in the top of the game in the pandemic mitigation, and / or the production success portfolios, respectively.
What is news is, how a country like Germany, has so far failed to vaccinate even 20% of its population! I will not buy the theory that it is inefficiency, for Germany possesses one of the most skilful medical and community workforces globally, with farsighted prior measures. This is exactly the reason that despite its neighbours suffering during the first wave of the pandemic, it still could put his head high enough! But what is preventing it from acquiring a commendable vaccination drive? Ignorance, apathy, or pure and simple, decentralised governance playing the spoilsport?
It pains to witness that the stupendous medical success of producing formidable vaccines in record time are actually devaluated, with shoddy administrative aggravations. And it seems to me that home-grown vaccines in the developing nations (brightest example has to be India in this case) is probably at a much better situation to mitigate the colossal domestic demand, rather than procurement of the more expensive ones from abroad. Add to this the culprit of vaccine hoarding, and you get the unclad ugly truth about politically abominable agendas.
Bottomline? Yes, we did bust the vaccine allegory (that it will take years before we have one). And cheers to the astonishing determinations of the scientific community for that! But vaccine administration and distribution? Unfortunately, it needs a hard and careful rethinking and retrospection!
