The novel coronavirus remains in the spotlight in 2022, after more than two years of the terrible nightmare that this pandemic has created.
Experts are trying to put an end to it, and they are chasing a universal covid vaccine. Check out the latest reports below.
Washington Post began a recent article by noting that the volunteers are rolling up their sleeves to receive shots of experimental vaccines tailored to beat the omicron variant — just as the winter coronavirus surge begins to relent.
The notes continued and revealed the following:
“By the time scientists know whether those rebooted vaccines are effective and safe, omicron is expected to be in the rearview mirror. Already, mask mandates are easing. People are beginning to talk about normalcy. The disconnect highlights the exhausting scientific chase of the last year — and the one that lies ahead.”
The same notes continued and said:
“And it underscores a more pressing, overarching conundrum: Is chasing the latest variant a viable strategy? Instead of testing and potentially deploying a new shot when a new variant pops up, what if a single vaccine could thwart all iterations of this coronavirus and the next ones, too?”
Rebooting vaccines
As you probably know by now, rebooting vaccines to match a new variant is becoming part of scientific muscle memory.
Drug companies made vaccines to fight beta, delta, and now omicron. But on the other hand, none of those shots have been needed yet, but to many scientists, it is a short-term, shortsighted and unsustainable strategy.
“You don’t want to play this whack-a-mole approach.”
This is what David R. Martinez, a viral immunologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said.
He continued:
“This could go on forever.”
The same online publication notes that the original shot has held up remarkably well, but there’s no guarantee how it will fare against the next variant.
Scientists like Martinez want to end the cycle of catch-up, as the same online publication mentioned above notes.
