In a world driven by competition between corporations and nations when a global threat becomes present these nations and companies are expected to work as one to exterminate the global threat. In the real world however, there is turmoil and distress which stops this from becoming reality. This vaccine is no different as competing companies and nations are working to produce the best solution to the global threat that is COVID-19.
This vaccine is possibly the best line of defense the world would have against COVID cases and there are many challenges that come when making any vaccine but especially this one while on a time crunch. According to the first article the making and testing of the vaccine may not even be the hardest part and the distribution of the vaccine is actually more difficult. This is because the vaccines have to be stored at temperatures varying from minus 80 degrees celsius and minus 20 degrees celsius which have to be delivered to everyone in the United States meaning large amounts of industrial freezers and dry ice need to be prepared for mass distribution of the vaccine. From a global perspective cultural factors need to be taken into consideration such as in Pakistan vaccines are viewed as evil because of previous attempts of espionage and rumors spread from the Taliban. As stated previously stated in this course cultural factors are the key to making a global system work. In a different point of view this vaccine can be seen as a huge profit for whomever develops the vaccine first as we live in the United States, a free market economy. This causes this competition that drives these Pharma companies to create the best vaccine the fastest to make the most profit which helps to keep the price lower than it would be if there was only one company producing it. Then with other countries also trying to make their own vaccine this puts pressure on the United States as a whole to make the vaccine to maintain a global presence. Here I think that it takes both the work of global cooperation as well as competition to find a successful. I think it is naive to say that it naive to say that it takes only global cooperation or only competition as it takes to both to help make sure the best vaccine is made and distributed to the world in the best manner.
During this time of a global pandemic the creation of a vaccine is yes very difficult is complicated but as shown above it is not the only issue faced as actually making enough of the vaccine and the delivery. and storage of the vaccine in a whole other struggle. This relates to the major issue of medical supplies that there is a huge shortage going on right now. This includes masks, gloves and other necessary supplies for those working in hospitals to treat patients. These shortages occurred because the companies making these items cannot produce them fast enough to keep up with the amount hospitals across the country and the world are using them. This could be a similar issue faced when the vaccine becomes available as these big pharma companies will be pumping out these vaccines but it likely won't be enough fast enough to keep up with the demand for the vaccine. This is huge issue as when the vaccine becomes available will there be enough for the floods of people begging to get the thing that could potentially save their life.
Now to get to the most direct problem at hand, how do you make this vaccine? Here a normal vaccine could take more than a decade after you finish all the steps of clinical trials and testing but during this "war" against COVID things can be fast tracked. According to the Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker again an article by the New York times, the approved track for the vaccine to go public is a 5 step process before it is released to the public. First, the vaccine goes through preclinical testing where it will be tested on cells which are then given to animals to view their immune response. If all goes well here it will then move on to phase 1 where it will then be given to a small group of people to see how well it stimulates their immune system. Then the vaccine could move on to phase 2 expanded trials where the vaccine is given to hundreds of people ranging in age, class, and others to view how it affects different people and view the safety of the vaccine. The next stop for the vaccine is phase 3, efficacy trials, where the vaccine is given to thousands of people which can show potential side effects and how successful it actually is. If the vaccine makes it through all of the above steps it can move on to a trial period where it is in limited or early approval before being approved. These steps may seem a little extra but all are to make sure it works and is safe to use for the safety for the consumer.
These steps also don't show what happens if there is a snare in one of these steps. If that happens the trials can be put on pause where they may have to be fixed and/or abandoned if the issue is too serious to be fixed. Today several have recently been paused as they have seen to cause COVID in the volunteer or not be effective but a majority are currently in a combined phase 1/2 which the FDA allowed to speed up the process to get the vaccine out as fast as possible while still being safe to use. Overall, the many steps the vaccine has to go through before becoming a reality reminds me much of the schoolhouse rock video of how a bill becomes a law only for how a vaccine is released to the public. This extremely strict and intricate process helps to promise the consumers of this vaccine that it is safe and successful in order to be used.
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