Murmurs from the Springs - Days to Remember : Tom McDermot

Murmurs from the Springs #2 

Days to Remember

In his Bubble Thought #3  Detlef noted the odd way in which the commemorative days in our calendar - like stars in astrology - sometimes align or overlap.

Well, if there was ever such a week of closely aligned days, this was it.

On Wednesday the UN asked that we remember the millions who have died during genocides and noted our collective responsibility to prevent such tragedies ever happening again.

Thursday was Human Rights Day. The UN’ theme for 2020 is ‘Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights’. The resolution notes that only if we “tackle entrenched inequalities, exclusion, and discrimination”, will we recover from COVID-19 and reach our common goals.

Friday was UNICEF Day. Sadly, the day seemed to get lost in this busy week.  

I want, however, to note a couple of other days this week which did not appear on our calendar, and yet marked important moments upon which future generations may look back.

Tuesday Boris Johnson declared to be ‘V’ Day (Vaccine Day) for the day on which the UK became the first Western nation to begin mass vaccinations against COVID-19. On Wednesday Canada followed, announcing its approval of the Pfizer vaccine for mass vaccinations.

Not to be outdone, Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a decree stating that only when “...there exists a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans who choose to be vaccinated” could US vaccines be made available to “allies, partners, and others”. (Note that both Pfizer and Moderna are US firms, even though they have extensive international operations and the Pfizer vaccine is so far manufactured mainly in Belgium.) 

 There is considerable doubt about the practical and legal force of such a US decree, but the meaning is clear - the vaccine wars are about to commence.

Agop Kayayan called our attention last week to his doubts over equitable distribution of vaccines among countries, as well as within countries. This week Kul Gautam has done the same by sharing an ‘Open Letter to President-elect Biden’ which condemns ‘vaccine nationalism’ and notes that the COVAX initiative supported by UNICEF, GAVI and WHO will provide vaccines for only a small portion of the world’s population.

So who will be included in that ‘small percentage’ of lucky people? Will it include any of those most vulnerable, those so often neglected segments of society in every country? Where is Human Rights Day and the call for the world to tackle entrenched inequities?

Vaccine nationalism should be very much on our minds in the months to come. UNICEF has noted that “the light at the end of the tunnel should shine for all.” Yet, aside from such quite general statements by our international agencies, calls for equity are drowned out by national leaders eager to claim credit where little credit seems due.

Indeed, politicians are scrambling to claim credit for ‘the astounding speed’ with which three COVID-19 vaccines have arrived, but loath to admit their failings in letting things get so bad in the first place. Equally, many in business and in the public remain unwilling to admit that they too failed to take the sensible health steps needed to protect themselves, their neighbors, and their communities.

So, for whom is credit really due for the relatively quick arrival of vaccines?  

Of course, there are many who deserve our thanks - scientists, epidemiologists, the thousands of volunteers who allowed themselves to be subjects in vaccine trials, and yes, even some of those grubby politicians who allocated the needed funds. 

But let’s start by thanking one person whose name we seldom hear - Katilin Karikó - a Hungarian biochemist born in 1955. In 2012 while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania she and a colleague developed a method by which a man-made copy of mRNA can produce an immune response. For those who recall high school biology class, mRNA is ‘messenger which allows cells to replicate. To over-simplify Karikó’s approach, ‘control the messenger and you can change the message.’

Vaccines using this approach produce a harmless piece of the ‘spike’ protein found on the surface of the virus causing COVID-19. Cells recognize this new protein as a ‘foreign invader’ and accordingly build an immune response to it. Once this happens, anyone infected will already have the antibodies needed to defeat the actual virus, if it arrives. For how long the immunity continues is uncertain, but the hope is that those antibodies will remain strong at least long enough to carry us through the pandemic

mRNA vaccines represent a radically different approach to producing vaccines. Most previous vaccines used a weakened copy of a real virus to produce antibodies. Introducing a real virus, even in a weakened form, carries a risk. By contrast, mRNA vaccines induce the body to create antibodies in the face of a man-made ‘fake’. well before a real virus arrives.

The true advantage of this approach, however, lies in the speed with which a vaccine can be developed. Instead of needing a long series of trial doses to find ‘the right’ degree to which a virus needs to be weakened, a vaccine can be designed almost as quickly as the genetic sequence of the virus is known.

Hard as it may be to believe, New York Magazine reports that the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 had already been developed by January 13th, just two days after the genetic sequence of the virus was made known in China, and long before the first deaths occurred in other countries. The months since January have been mainly needed for extensive testing of the vaccine's efficacy and negative side-effects along with ramping up production capacity.  By past standards for development of a vaccine, this period of testing and regulatory approval may seem fast.  For those who have been sickened or died, lost jobs or businesses in the course of the pandemic, however, the process was far too slow.

Consider, however, the implications of being able to formulate a vaccine a few days after you know the genetic sequence. Could the world actually be ready when the next viral pandemic arrives? 

Perhaps. 

 If so, we might skip over all those politicians claiming credit, and think instead of Katilin Karikó and her colleagues who were willing to look at an old problem with fresh eyes.

Might we also urge our governments to look with fresh eyes at an old problem - equity in access to a limited resources?  Might we remind them that development of a vaccine is the easy part of the job when compared to the task of getting the vaccine into the arms of everyone in the world who needs it?  

If indeed the vaccine wars are about to commence, let's make our own fight always be for human rights and equal access for all to life's essentials. 

It seems to me that this would be a very fitting way for UNICEF and XUNICEF to celebrate our 75th year - days we and our grandchildren may remember fondly and with pride.