In 1796, Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine. (Let’s ignore the circumstances under which that discovery took place, including the reckless endangerment of a child and a few other things...) In doing so, he gave us a tremendous gift. Vaccines have been crucial to ensuring our society and communities are protected and safe from many diseases for over two centuries. Allowing us to thrive and evolve into who we are today.
Personally, I don’t have much of a story with vaccines. I never even got one of those marks in my arm from the reaction to the tuberculosis vaccine, which so many of us have (Yeah, I’m different, so what?! :D). Nevertheless, I always recognised their importance. I grew up in a house where health and science were very important (wouldn’t you know it?... My mum is a pharmacology professor…). So, vaccines came naturally (regardless of the large needles !).
COVID-19 presented us with a new challenge. The world was thrown in the middle of a pandemic. With cases rising and no effective treatment in sight, vaccination became the best option. “If you can’t fight them, prevent them”, isn’t that what the people used to say? But could it actually be done?... If the pharmaceutical sector takes so long to discover and bring to market new medicines, would a safe and effective vaccine be discovered in time?
By the end of 2020, less than a year from the onset, we had our answer: Yes! Industry, academia and regulators were able to work together on the basis of all the scientific developments that had taken place thus far and develop and produce this “Holy Mary”. Now it’s up to us to do our part and say “Present!” For ourselves, for our loved ones, for every single person on Earth! If life were a movie, this would be the moment when we all concentrate our collective energy on one spot to defeat the bad guy / giant asteroid. But it isn’t. And COVID-19 won’t go away in a single moment. It will take 7.9 billion moments.
As someone living abroad; who is apart from their family and loved ones; who, as many others, hasn’t been home for the past 4 months (and counting); it’s been hard to handle the pandemic, the lockdowns, the isolation. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve already missed my grandma’s 92nd and 93rd birthdays, but I’m counting on every single one of you to allow me to be there for her 94th (she’s had the vaccine, so I know she’ll get there, also, that woman is a force of nature – I mean, aren’t all our grandmas? 😉 ). Let’s all be #VaccineChamps! The world needs us!