Will a Vaccine Guarantee the End of Coronavirus Pandemic?

Since the beginning of the current health crisis, there have been trials around the world for testing different formulas for an effective coronavirus vaccine. The vast majority of people are hopeful that launching a vaccine will guarantee the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Till now, researchers have stated that ensuring a specific formula works and also comes with minimum side effects on the health takes time. Usually, any medicine or vaccine is tested in long and typically three different phases of a carefully designed clinical trial.

The trail can last years to investigate all possible effects of a tested treatment. In the current crisis, the medical community is facing a much different and difficult situation. Due to the emergency, there is increased pressure on launching a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible.

According to researchers, emergency drug approvals and quick trials can actually pave the way for not very effective treatments. Any medicine or vaccine needs a specific amount of time to be fully tested.

The World Health Organization has estimated that an efficacious vaccine is unlikely to be launched in the market this year. It can take a few more months for up to another year for making a coronavirus vaccine.

So far, two clinical trials have reported positive results and have raised hopes worldwide but the vaccines still have to be tested in another and largest phase to ensure both efficacy and safety.

Even though the successful results are good news, the medical community is now highlighting potential difficulties that can follow soon after a vaccine is developed and marketed regardless of whether it happens this year or the next.

An effective vaccine protects protect millions of people from the virus but this can only happen if all people are able to obtain it. The procedure of vaccination in the population of the US, let alone the world can take months.

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The problems that can occur with vaccinating the entire population of a country are similar to those that arose with mass-scale testing. It can be difficult to track and vaccinate people in all areas.

Similarly, errors in the compilation of data regarding vaccinations are likely to occur and it may keep many people from getting vaccinated.

In addition to the problems with the distribution and compilation of data on the vaccine, another issue that can possibly lower the hopes of the end of coronavirus pandemic can be the big population of anti-vaccination people.

Since the past few years, countries around the world, specifically the US, have had movements against all kinds of vaccination based on scientifically inaccurate information that states vaccines can cause health issues such as autism.

Such people also do not get their children vaccinated and put them in great danger. They are also likely to put others at risk by refusing to get themselves and their families vaccinated for coronavirus.

Therefore, experts state that even though a vaccine shows hope for the end of the coronavirus pandemic, it may still take a lot of time for the crisis to end even after the vaccination is launched.

 

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