COVID-19 and the Need for a Vaccine

Writer: Grace Yoon

As the pandemic rages on, many are now questioning whether or not a vaccine will be the cure we need to successfully eradicate COVID-19.

Doctors in Texas attending to a patient with COVID-19 outside of an overcrowded hospital.

The year 2020 has been infected by a variety of different issues, the most prominent being the coronavirus pandemic. As the virus quickly spread throughout the world, many believed that the pandemic would only last a short time before it would fade away and we would return to normalcy. As the United States has rounded the seventh month of the pandemic, it has become clear that this virus won’t just fade away. One solution that has been proposed to truly combat the spread of COVID-19 is a vaccine. But what exactly is a vaccine, and how could it help?

A vaccine is a substance that is injected into a person’s body to help prepare their immune system to fight off diseases by introducing the weakened form of a disease. When a vaccine is injected into the body, it imitates an infection so that the body can learn how to fight it off. When the body then encounters the actual disease, it knows how to successfully get rid of it. Vaccines were first created and utilized in the eighteenth-century to fight smallpox, and with the success of the vaccine, the world was able to completely eradicate smallpox. Since then, vaccines have been used throughout the world to help combat the spread of dangerous and infectious diseases.

Vaccine administration.

COVID-19, with its ability to kill the body’s healthy cells and cause a host of negative symptoms, can be described as a dangerous and infectious disease that necessitates the creation of a vaccine to combat it. If a vaccine for COVID-19 was successfully created and distributed, the United States could use it to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, there are many different steps that contribute to the creation of a successful vaccine. It can take months, and even years, for scientists to perfect a vaccine before it can be deemed safe to give to the general public. So, though we have endured seven months of a pandemic wrought with death, fear, and uncertainty, we may still have longer to wait before the creation of a vaccine that will truly do its job safely and successfully. But, there are many things we can do right now to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the best ways to avoid contracting or spreading COVID-19 are to wear a mask, avoid close contact with others, wash your hands daily, and monitor your health. By following these instructions, we can help slow the spread of the coronavirus until a safe and reliable vaccine is created.

Sources

“Explainer: What Is a Vaccine?” Science News for Students, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-what-vaccine.

“ Healthline Hospitals Put to Test as COVID-19 Strains.” Healthline, www.healthline.com/health-news/hospitals-put-to-test-as-covid-19-strains-icus.

“How to Protect Yourself & Others | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Oct. 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.