I’m Working on a COVID Vaccine. I’m Hopeful, But I Won’t Give False Hope.
The coronavirus pandemic has already altered daily life beyond recognition. It will shape our lives for years to come, mostly in ways that are impossible to predict, let alone understand. Esquire asked twenty people to share their experiences in the first few months of the outbreak. Each of their first-person accounts is a reassurance that none of us are facing this alone. Check out the full list here.
Viruses are beautiful. Viruses are biologically intriguing. Viruses will always surprise us. I love viruses. I respect viruses.
All The groups pursuing a vaccine stay in touch via weekly calls run by the World Health Organization. It’s wonderful. And you know what? Good luck to every one of them.
I love the fact that it’s a race, but I don’t care about winning. I care about participating. Because things that I learn along the way might help something else get across the finish line.
It’s not a vaccine until it’s a product. If someone says they have a vaccine right now, they don’t. They have a vaccine candidate.
Number of vaccine efforts worldwide: 95
Typical timeline for vaccine development: 10 to 15 years
Goal for COVID-19: 12 to 18 months
Hope is a really important word, actually. Overpromising and not being honest about where you’re at is one of the most reprehensible things a person can do.
But also, we hope that humanity will solve this problem. Hope drives us to be creative, collaborative, energetic, hardworking. And humanity has done it before. We’ve eradicated diseases, such as smallpox. We have diseases under control, such as measles and polio.
I am confident that the scientific community will come up with a solution.
But I won’t give false hope.
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