Only a vaccine will stop the coronavirus

“For those who wanted a world without vaccines…here’s the world without ONE vaccine.”
Author unknown

It’s my very strong opinion this crisis will not end until a safe and effective vaccine is developed—Israel may be the first country to have a vaccine (within the next 90 days?), but can they rapidly produce it in the hundreds of millions of doses needed worldwide?  I’m sure they’ll share their technology with the world.

Stop and think about it, 98+% of the US population (and world) is “immunologically naive” to this virus—our immune systems have never encountered this virus—we have no immunity to it, period, and therefore we’re very susceptible.

So there’re only two ways for our bodies to develop protective antibodies to COVID-19:  (1) become infected and recover; and/or (2) through vaccination.  Right now we’re doing #1 and that’s very inefficient and very dangerous to human health, our healthcare systems, and our economy.  So until vaccination becomes very widespread, we’ll continue going through critical cycles or waves of new cases needing hospitalization which will, in turn, continue to put huge strains on our healthcare infrastructure (and our economy).

Looking over the past century, I ask you to name just one major worldwide human viral disease that’s been conquered WITHOUT a vaccine?  The CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/forgot-14-diseases.html , list 14 diseases we’ve almost forgotten about thanks to vaccines—“vaccination protects against these 14 disease (see website for the diseases), which used to be prevalent in the US”.  Note, not all of them are viral diseases.

In the meantime, collectively as a society for the good of all, we need to continue (1) observing social distancing, (2) thorough hand-washing and not touching one’s face, and NOW (3) wearing face masks, even of the simplest kind; the following link is a must see video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZtEX2-n2Hc .  All three actions when applied together will greatly increase our odds of NOT getting COVID-19.  Let’s do all 3 now!

Unless an unforeseen miracle happens (and it could), the world is now into a terrible new normal that will continue to have devastating effects from COVID-19 until a vaccine arrives.  Pray for very rapid development of a safe and effective vaccine.

Updated on 4-2-20:

To expand on just how contagious COVID-19 is, in talking with my wife several weeks ago, I used the example of “second-hand cigarette smoke”.  Whether indoors or outside, if you’re within 20-30 feet of someone smoking, most likely you will eventually get a whiff (some times stronger than a whiff) of their “second-hand smoke”.

Well how did that smoke travel?  It traveled in that person’s breath—their “second-hand breath” (from normal breathing).  That smoke was embedded in their “second-hand breath”.

So in public settings such as grocery stores (to get needed items during this crisis) or at a pharmacy, you and I are constantly inhaling someone else’s “second-hand breath”, and likewise they’re breathing ours.  I also noted to my wife that the Corona virus from an infected person is highly likely to be in both types of breath, and just because we cannot smell smoke-free “second-hand breath” doesn’t mean the virus is not there—we’re certainly more of aware of a person’s “second-hand breath” if it’s laden with cigarette smoke.  The following article (see link) just confirms what I’ve been saying for some time now.  https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/health/aerosol-coronavirus-spread-white-house-letter/index.html

Which brings me to my final point and makes the YouTube video (see link above) from the Czech Republic more relevant and very important.  Wearing a face mask each and every time one goes into a public setting should be part of the 3-pronged actions to (1) observing social distancing, (2) thorough hand-washing and not touching one’s face, and NOW (3) wearing face masks, even of the simplest kind, thus increasing one’s chances of NOT being infected with COVID-19, and it’s now even more important with the revelation of this new finding.

And yet how did someone as simple as me hypothesize (and correctly so) and intuitively know this was reality?  An infected person’s “second-hand breath” can be loaded with infectious Corona virus particles, and every time we pass through and breath that contaminated “second-hand breath” the greater the chances of becoming infected without the protection of a face mask.  And why has it taken the “medical experts” so long to acknowledge wearing a face mask, of almost any type, will confer some degree of protection from the aerosol/breath transmission route of infection?  Obviously much better than no face mask at all.