It has been exactly one year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic. Within that one year, Covid-19, a viral disease caused by a Coronavirus, has infected 120 million around the world and claimed 2.6 million lives. In Sri Lanka, 87,000 people have been infected while just over 500 have died as a result of Covid-19.
Needless to say, it was a year that turned the world upside down. The virus that originated in Wuhan, China (the exact origins are still being probed), quickly spread to all four corners of the world thanks to international travel. By the time most countries closed their borders, it was too late. Most countries including Sri Lanka went into lockdown for months on end. While this approach did reduce infections, it was untenable especially for developing countries from a socio-economic perspective. Thus most countries have now learned to live with the virus, albeit in ‘New Normal’ conditions, where we have to constantly wash hands, wear a mask, keep the distance from the next person and avoid travel as much as possible.
The last time the world faced a pandemic of this magnitude was a century ago. The Spanish Flu claimed an estimated 50 million lives. While we have indeed learned a lot more about viruses since then (in 1920, it was not even possible to see them), the basic precautions outlined above are still the same. Moreover, there is still no cure for any viral disease.
But we do have one weapon against Covid-19 that they did not have back in 1920 – a vaccine. Not one, but several. In fact, this can be hailed as the biggest scientific breakthrough in this century as no vaccines have been manufactured and introduced to the market in less than one year (It took four years to develop the Ebola vaccine). A combination of inventions, almost unlimited funding and international cooperation made this possible.
Margaret Keenan, a 91-year-old grandmother from the UK made history last December by becoming the first person in the world to receive a Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial. This was a magical moment indeed for humanity and science, for scientists managed to create a fully safe and scientifically endorsed vaccine for the dreaded Coronavirus in under one year.
The vaccine in question was made by a small German pharma firm (BioNTech) in partnership with US pharma giant Pfizer. Other vaccines made by Moderna, AstraZeneca/Oxford University, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya Institute of Russia (Sputnik V) and China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac are also on the market. Many countries including Sri Lanka (750,000 vaccinated and counting) have begun vaccination campaigns aimed at reaching ‘herd immunity’ whereby the virus cannot find any new hosts to infect as around 80 percent of the population have gained immunity. Scientists are also trying to find a ‘cure’ with limited success - so far, only a few drugs and drug ‘cocktails’ including Remdisivir have shown some viability.
With a global pandemic, only one thing is certain – no one is safe until everyone is safe. Unfortunately, mankind’s penchant for self-preservation has come through even amid a pandemic as rich countries have been accused of ‘vaccine nationalism’, which means that they have been ordering and hoarding multiple vaccines far in excess of their populations. Canada, for example, has ordered enough vaccines to inoculate its population nine times over. The UK and EU are not far behind. This leaves poor nations in the dust – more than 100 countries have not even given a single dose.
In fact, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement marking one year since the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic that ‘the global vaccination campaign represents the greatest moral test of our times.’ The UN Chief criticised the “many examples of vaccine nationalism and vaccine hoarding” as well as side deals with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers that undermine access to all people in the world. Guterres reiterated his call for Covid-19 vaccines to be seen as “a global public good.” “The world needs to unite to produce and distribute sufficient vaccines for all, which means at least doubling manufacturing capacity around the world,” he said. “That effort must start now.”
Vaccine equity is a must for getting the world economy on track as well - the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned that the global economy could lose US$ 9.2 trillion if developing countries are left behind in the vaccine rollout. Rich nations must immediately provide more funds to the WHO’s COVAX facility which aims to provide vaccines to 92 developing countries including Sri Lanka. It is in their own interest to do so.
In any case, the pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, with more transmissible and potentially more lethal variants of the virus cropping up in several countries. Some scientists fear that at least a few of their variants could be more resistant to the existing vaccines. Vaccine makers, on their part, are already designing booster shots that can tame the new variants. More research is also needed on ‘Long Covid’ where ‘recovered’ patients experience long-term effects such as fatigue, chest pains and brain fog even months after their first encounter with Covid-19.
This is unlikely to be the last pandemic, given that millions of Coronaviruses are residing in bats and other animals.
It is only a matter of time before another Zoonotic (animal to human) virus transmission takes place and the next time, it could be even more lethal than Covid-19. It is thus important to revamp the entire global health system to face a bigger pandemic.