It has been two years since a new coronavirus was discovered in China. Since that day, December 31, 2019, the world has changed at an incredible pace – from the way we work to the medical procedures available to us. Here are five things we have learned since the outbreak began.
Before the pandemic, it took four years to develop the fastest vaccine. It took only 11 months to develop the first vaccine against Covid. Almost immediately after the start of the pandemic, scientists began developing a vaccine to protect against Covid-19. Some pharmaceutical companies have decided to use a new technology that has never before been used to make vaccines – mRNA. The risk paid off. Not only did Pfizer-BioNTech scientists develop a vaccine against Covid-19 faster than anyone else, they also laid the groundwork for a range of new treatments using similar technology. In essence, a small fragment of the genetic code called mRNA is taken and coated with fat. The resulting preparation is introduced into the body, where the cells absorb it and use it as a set of instructions for producing new material. In the case of mRNA coronavirus vaccines, mRNA instructs cells to produce a small portion of the Covid-19 virus. This fragment is not dangerous, but the body’s immune system learns to recognize it in order to attack the actual Covid-19 virus when it enters the body.
But mRNA can also be used in other ways. In addition to the potential development of vaccines against diseases such as HIV, influenza, and Zika, mRNA can be used to train the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells, create proteins that are missing from the cells of people with cystic fibrosis, or teach the protective system of people with multiple sclerosis not to attack the nervous system. Research into mRNA-based treatments has been going on for decades, but vaccines against Covid-19 are the first to be proven effective in the field. These achievements have the potential to change the lives of millions of people.
Many countries have changed their regulations to require the use of face masks. About four months after the Covid-19 outbreak was announced, the World Health Organization wrote on Twitter: “FACT: COVID19 is NOT airborne.” At the time, WHO experts did not recommend that people wear masks. “There is no concrete evidence that wearing masks provides any serious benefit,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO’s Emergency Health Programme. “We do not recommend wearing masks if you are not sick,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, technical manager of WHO’s Covid-19 control program. Now, doctors’ views have changed and the WHO states that wearing masks should become a normal, everyday practice. There is growing evidence that COVID is not only transmitted through droplets of saliva or mucus that remain in the air for a short time after sneezing or coughing, or through contact with an infected surface. Now the WHO says the virus can spread through aerosol particles – much smaller particles that stay in the air for much longer. And not only that.
The WHO has changed its recommendations, stating that Covid is airborne. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of episodes should remain the same. End of story: Podcast Advertising. An editorial in the British Medical Journal states: “At close range, people are more likely to be exposed to the virus by inhalation than by large droplets landing on the eyes, nose or lips. The likelihood of surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is now thought to be relatively low. Research has shown cases of people contracting COVID-19 from patients more than 2 meters away or after being in a room where an infected person had recently been.” “In March [2020], people were calling me to ask how long they should soak a can of beans in bleach before bringing it into their homes,” says Paula Cannon, distinguished professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. “Since then, we have learned that airborne transmission of the virus in poorly ventilated spaces by people without masks as they talk or simply breathe is the cause of most cases of infection. This is exactly why bars and restaurants are so dangerous. Hand washing and surface treatment have not been eliminated, but we now pay much more attention to wearing masks and ventilating rooms.
Even after the pandemic is over, we are likely to use video much more often. During the pandemic, millions of people around the world began working from home. Just a few years ago, this was hardly possible from a technical point of view. But the pandemic has shown that video calling and video conferencing, for example, are not that difficult. This will definitely have an impact on how and where we work. Twitter company announced in May 2020: “Now Twitter employees can always work from home. The past few months have proven that it is entirely possible.” In the company, however, they found that this only applied to those whose jobs allowed them to be away from the office. Facebook management made a similar statement this year. Technology giants are not the only ones interested in remote work. According to a survey of 1,200 companies conducted by researchers at Enterprise Technology Research, the percentage of people working from home on a permanent basis worldwide is expected to double by 2021 (exact data for 2021 is not yet available). A global survey of more than 200,000 people in 190 countries conducted by Boston Consulting found that 89% of respondents believe they will be doing some of their work from home. Before the pandemic, this figure was only 31%. This includes those involved in production and manual labor: they hope to be able to do at least some of their work from home. However, flexible scheduling is not available to everyone. This is especially true for those in low-wage, low-skill jobs where remote working is not an option. This can exacerbate inequality in society.
Most affected were people from less developed countries. The pandemic has highlighted the growing social stratification. In the United Kingdom, a study conducted by scientists at the UK Biobank showed that in the most deprived part of the country, 11.4% of the population was infected with COVID-19, compared to 7.8% in more affluent regions. It was also found that representatives of ethnic minorities suffered more than their proportion in the total population of the country. A similar situation was observed in the United States. In New York, data for 2020 showed that the mortality rate from COVID-19 among Latinos and Blacks was 34% and 28%, respectively, while they represented 29% and 22% of the state’s total population. Research conducted in California has shown that non-Spanish speaking blacks are 2.7 times more likely to be hospitalized than non-Spanish speaking whites. Many countries do not have accurate data on the impact of the pandemic, but one of the most striking differences between countries is the number of people who have been vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, about 70% of people in high- and middle-income countries are fully immunized. In lower-income countries, the figure is only 32%. In low-income countries, only 4% of people are vaccinated. In developed countries, a campaign is underway to revaccinate populations: booster doses provide more effective protection against the new “Omicron” strain, which is spreading rapidly around the world. However, the consequences of the slow introduction of vaccines in less developed countries could be more deadly.
Rapid mutation of the coronavirus makes it difficult to control. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was a lot of talk about “herd immunity”: it was assumed that if enough people developed immunity to COVID-19 through infection or vaccination, the virus would become less dangerous. This is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. As it turns out, the immune system’s response weakens over time, so countries that can afford it are implementing revaccination programs. According to Shabir Madhi, Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, the immune response following infection or vaccination lasts approximately six to nine months.
Although vaccines are effective in protecting against the most severe consequences of the disease, even the best vaccines do not appear to be able to completely prevent human infection and the spread of the virus, even though many infected individuals experience mild or asymptomatic infection. “With existing vaccines, even if they reduce transmission, the concept of herd immunity does not make sense,” said Dr. Salvador Peiro of the FISABIO research institute in Spain in an interview with the BBC. And the virus is rapidly mutating into new variants, some of which are much more contagious and against which the vaccines provide less protection. It is likely that we will have to live with the virus for a long time as it evolves and vaccines are regularly updated to adapt to new variants. This scenario envisages a more or less normal life in countries with a high level of vaccination, without excessive strain on health systems. The rapid spread of the omicron variant has changed the situation: even in countries with a high vaccination rate, authorities are urging people to get booster shots and are reintroducing social distancing measures. A small number of areas with low infection rates, such as New Zealand and Hong Kong, face a dilemma: since victory over the coronavirus is not expected in the near future, they must either maintain strict quarantine and travel restrictions or open their borders – and face a new influx of infected people.