The more we learn about the novel coronavirus, the clearer it is that COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon. Some vaccines could be ready by late 2020, with more on the way next year. But the challenge of making and distributing enough doses will prevent early access to COVID-19 vaccines by the entire world population. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has direct knowledge of several of these projects, has always shown cautious optimism about candidates for coronavirus vaccines. He said not so long ago that the first vaccines could be ready in early 2021 and then explained that some of them already have partial data showing that they are actually working as intended. But in the end there is no guarantee that any of these vaccines will be effective against COVID-19. And even though they are, Fauci is now cautioning that immunity probably won’t last long.
A study a few days ago told us that any of the four human coronaviruses that cause the common cold will last anywhere between 6 to 12 months, acquired immunity. That’s why we experience this type of illness again and again.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director just gave us the bad news we were dreading about the COVID-19 vaccine. Immunization won’t provide long-lasting protection for people and we might still be reinfected. Worse still, even those who survive COVID-19 may experience it in the future again.
But even this type of immunity would help reduce outbreaks and make managing the illness much easier. We may never eradicate the virus, but it could be made far less dangerous by vaccines combined with other medications. The whole point of devising therapies for COVID-19 is to prevent complications and reduce mortality rates. That can definitely be achieved, and vaccines will help in this by protecting certain communities and working classes.
Fauci is still cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness of several current candidates for the vaccine, noting that with such types of drugs “there is never a guarantee.” “Response could take months and months and months,” he added.
Pfizer and BioNTech perform trials in Germany and the USA. Separately the U.S. government made an investment of $1.2 billion in AstraZeneca to secure 300 million doses of the Oxford vaccine already being tested.