02-10 Vaccines

I was only nine and my mother said our doctor was participating in a trial on a vaccine for the common cold. Well that needle was pretty scary and he plunged it into my butt. And two days later, instead of my body producing antibodies that would fight the common cold, I came out with boils all over my body.
My mother was mad as hell. And she let our doctor know how she felt. I could hear all the chit chat at night between my parents. Apparently, of the 50 or so patients that were vaccinated by our doctor, most still got colds. It is what we would call, “shitty efficacy”. Of course what makes a cold vaccine so difficult is that colds are caused by dozens of different viruses.
Another helpful story goes back to my grandparents and the Spanish Flu which killed 50 million people around the world. They missed it in 1918 when everyone was careful. But with the kids looking for things to do, they opened the silent movies in 1919 and my mother brought the virus home.
Different age groups died in the 1919 mutated version compared to 1918. And to the surprise of everyone, my grandmother was not sick. She told me no one really could understand what was happening. Just as confusing today with viruses and vaccines impacting different people in different ways.
Flus are another complex form of virus. And the vaccine we took a few years back did not work. We were sick with complications while visiting in California. My wife spent two days in hospital and got bills totalling $23K US.
Just impossible for the US to cope with both flu season and a mutated Covid-19 without a public health system. Everyone is waiting for a vaccine.
But a vaccine must be something that works for say 90% who take it. And it must be something that 70% of the population will accept.
If you do not have the right kind of numbers with say 60% of the population vaccinated you do not get what is called “herd immunity”. A situation where the vaccinated protect the unvaccinated.
At present there are about 166 vaccines in various stages of preparation and testing around the world. Hard to believe we will see an effective vaccine before the middle of 2021. Then we have to produce it in the billions and distribute it to the world.
But the good news is that antiviral drugs for treating people are showing greater promise than viruses for preventing the disease.
But Canada, looking ahead, has placed orders for 300 million doses. Now if everyone in Canada needed two doses each, Canada is already thinking of making vaccines available to a range of developing nations.
How great it would be to place the US back on top as a respected leader. My suggestion is to work with Canada to produce and distribute vaccines for undeveloped nations in Africa and South America.
Like vaccines for small pox and measles, vaccines for Covid-19 have to be for everyone.