It has been almost four months since I wrote this, and new daily cases in the United States are 6x what they were then. Quarantine is the only solution to the pandemic and unfortunately, most of us are financially unable or unwilling to take the time and stop the spread. It will never go away otherwise and will forever ebb and flow just like influenza.
As vaccines are developed, my scientific mind attempts to review the real story amid theoretical claims and the probability of success. This is the full story on the state of all vaccines in development. Keep in mind that it normally takes 10-15 years to develop a viable vaccine. This article (Vaccination and Antibodies) is an excellent read on how a vaccine works.
There are proven benefits for the greater population of people as we have seen with the vaccines for the Poliovirus and the Measles. There are complications with modern medicine and not everyone is willing to take the risk. We all need to be able to make our own choice, or in the case of being a child, your loving parents will make the choice for you.
I certainly appreciate the efforts of Operation Warp Speed. I am an optimist, but the facts are not clear. We need more time. If you do opt to get the vaccine, be sure to get paid for your contribution to the testing and development of it, because we are only half way through the two year experiment. This Atlantic article explains the facts behind the recent news reports of having a vaccine that is 90% effective.
As of November 14, 2020, this article describes the many SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates entering phase three of the approval process. A downloadable PDF is here.
On a lighter note and an interesting one at that, did you know that the word vaccine came from the the Latin word vacca meaning cow? The latin word vaccinae was formed from the adjective vaccinus meaning “of or relating to cows.”
The cowpox virus was used to experimentally protect people from getting Cowpox and the cowpox material used for injections was then called vaccine. It also provided protection from smallpox The injection itself was called a vaccination and thus the english word came to be. The full story is here.
In All Our Years ™ 