Although I certainly hope not, it may be impossible to create a vaccine for this virus. This notion is beginning to percolate up in the media. If so, the way we are living could be the "new normal". Let's hope not, but we need to at least be aware of the challenges.
Bloomberg: China's top scientists say the coronavirus will likely return every year
https://www.abacusnews.com/tech/chinas-top-sc...le/3081880
Business Insider: Scientists fear the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine will fail and we will all have to live with the 'constant threat' of COVID-19
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-v...vid-2020-4
The Guardian: Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/18...lth-expert
USA Today: 'Our moon shot': The world needs a coronavirus vaccine ASAP. Despite drugmakers billion-dollar bets, one might not be available for years.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/2...983177001/
MarketWatch: ‘We will not have a vaccine by next winter.’ Like the 1918 Spanish flu, CDC says second wave of coronavirus could be worse. So what happens now?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/we-will-not...2020-04-22
Virus Mutation:
Fox Business News:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/coronavirus-m...tudy-finds
International Business Times:
https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-covid-19-...ls-2962820
TechTimes
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/249039/202...-china.htm
Bloomberg: China's top scientists say the coronavirus will likely return every year
https://www.abacusnews.com/tech/chinas-top-sc...le/3081880
Quote: China’s top scientists said the novel coronavirus will not be eradicated, joining a growing consensus around the world that the pathogen will likely return in waves like the flu.
China is still finding dozens of asymptomatic cases of the coronavirus every day despite bringing its epidemic under control. “This is very likely to be an epidemic that co-exists with humans for a long time, becomes seasonal and is sustained within human bodies.
A consensus is forming among top researchers and governments worldwide that the virus is unlikely to be eradicated, despite costly lockdowns that have brought much of the global economy to a halt.
Anthony Fauci, the director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last month that Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, could become a seasonal ailment as evidenced by cases now showing up in countries across the southern hemisphere belatedly as they enter their winter seasons.
Business Insider: Scientists fear the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine will fail and we will all have to live with the 'constant threat' of COVID-19
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-v...vid-2020-4
Quote: Scientists fear that it may prove impossible to produce a working coronavirus vaccine and believe the world may have to simply learn to adapt to the permanent threat of COVID-19.
The UK's Chief Medical Officer, Christopher Whitty, told a Parliamentary committee on Friday that there was "concerning" evidence suggesting that it may not be possible to stimulate immunity to the virus.
He said that the world needs "to be careful that we don't assume that we are going to have a vaccine for this disease”
"Vaccines are looked for, for every infectious disease, they are not found for all of them."
"Some viruses are very, very difficult when it comes to vaccine development - so for the foreseeable future, we are going to have to find ways to go about our lives with this virus as a constant threat."
The Guardian: Don’t bet on vaccine to protect us from Covid-19, says world health expert
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/18...lth-expert
Quote: Humanity will have to live with the threat of coronavirus “for the foreseeable future” and adapt accordingly because there is no guarantee that a vaccine can be successfully developed, one of the world’s leading experts on the disease has warned.
“You don’t necessarily develop a vaccine that is safe and effective against every virus.
On Friday, Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, warned that there was no evidence that antibody tests now being developed would show if a person has immunity or is no longer at risk of becoming reinfected by the Covid-19 virus.
USA Today: 'Our moon shot': The world needs a coronavirus vaccine ASAP. Despite drugmakers billion-dollar bets, one might not be available for years.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/04/2...983177001/
Quote: It's possible there will be no vaccine. Vaccines for respiratory ailments have a history of setbacks.
Then there’s the history of problems in making a vaccine against coronaviruses, of which SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease COVID-19 is one.
No one has ever developed a vaccine for the common cold, which is often caused by different strains of the coronavirus.
MarketWatch: ‘We will not have a vaccine by next winter.’ Like the 1918 Spanish flu, CDC says second wave of coronavirus could be worse. So what happens now?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/we-will-not...2020-04-22
Quote: First, the bad news: “The four seasonal coronaviruses do not seem to induce long-term immunity,” said Gregory Poland, who studies the immunogenetics of vaccine response in adults and children at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and expert with the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
“We will not have a vaccine by next winter,” Poland added. “The Southern Hemisphere is just starting their fall and winter. They will have a severe course of this disease due to less preparedness, less medical infrastructure and less public infrastructure.”
“There’s no chance that immunity is going to be high enough to reach herd immunity,” Poland said. “With influenza, you need herd immunity of 60% to 70%. With measles, you need about 95%. With COVID-19, it’s somewhere in the middle.”
In the absence of a vaccine, Poland said several conditions are necessary for herd immunity to work: a very high level of population immunity, for that immunity to be durable, and for the virus to not mutate. “None of those seem to be operational at present,” he said.
Virus Mutation:
Fox Business News:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/coronavirus-m...tudy-finds
Quote: The results showed that medical officials have vastly underestimated the overall ability of the virus to mutate, in finding that different strains have affected different parts of the world, leading to potential difficulties in finding an overall cure.
International Business Times:
https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-covid-19-...ls-2962820
Quote: These mutations could mean one vaccine alone can't immunize people against all the mutations of SARS-CoV-2 spreading worldwide, according to an alarming study authored by a team of 14 Chinese scientists.
TechTimes
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/249039/202...-china.htm
Quote: The results illustrate that medical officials have greatly underestimated the overall ability of the virus to mutate. They have discovered that the different strains have affected various parts of the world. This has led to difficulties in finding that one vaccine that everybody has been hoping for.
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