The first step in humanity’s war against the coronavirus was the invention of a vaccine. Now it’s time to make a new move – to invent a drug that actually cures COVID-19. Or maybe it already exists?
Two years ago, a pandemic began that changed the whole world. At first, it seemed to many of us that this was something akin to “bird flu” and would remain within Asia. But by the spring of 2020, Russia has also been “covered”. The words “remote work”, “self-isolation” and “lockdown” have entered our everyday speech.
Literally on the go, I had to rebuild my usual life, someone went into denial, others were carried away by conspiracy theories, others bought buckwheat and experienced a panic. We put on masks and finally taught ourselves to use sanitizers. The number of sick people went to tens of thousands, people buried their loved ones. It became clear that this was serious and for a long time.
Step One: Vaccination
The only effective way known to medicine to stop a pandemic is vaccination. They started with her.
While doctors in hospitals were selecting treatment regimens for the sick from the drugs already existing in the world, scientists were working on the invention of a vaccine. Since we have been vaccinating against other diseases for a long time, the challenge was to combine proven methods of delivering a vaccine into the body with the new coronavirus. About a year later, experts in different countries presented several types of drugs.
Vaccination “acquaints” our body with the virus – weakened or completely dead. This is necessary so that the immune system learns to deal with it in a “training” format. Therefore, the vaccine does not guarantee that we will not catch the coronavirus – but people who are vaccinated definitely get sick more easily than unvaccinated people.
Three coronavirus vaccines have been registered in Russia: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona and KoviVac. The world uses other vaccines approved by WHO.
Step two: medicine
How to treat the new virus was also unclear. Coronavirus is very different from SARS. COVID-19 is caused by a virus, affects the lungs, and in addition is a neuroinfection, affecting the nervous system (and the brain as a part of it). With such a unique “set” humanity has encountered for the first time. The selection of drugs was partly by trial and error – and this is not a “miss” of physicians, but a natural course of events.
A new disease required new treatment protocols. The largest pharmaceutical companies began to look for a formula for the most effective drug. Today, our scientists are working on the Mir-19 drug. But at least two large companies have already announced that new antivirals are ready for use and will make a breakthrough in the treatment of COVID-19.
- “Potentially revolutionary” pill
On November 4, the UK became the first country to approve a “potentially revolutionary” Molnupiravir drug developed by US companies Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
The drug in the UK will be called Lagevrio. It is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is taken twice a day for five days. The developers said that animal tests show that molnupiravir is safe. But this data has not yet been made public.
- “Convincingly Beneficial” Pill
Another major pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has also developed an anti-covid drug in tablet form. Paxlovid reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% when taken within three days of symptom onset. The clinical trials were overseen by independent experts. They said the benefits of the drug to patients were “very compelling.”
Pfizer representatives make more confident statements. “The results really exceeded our wildest expectations. Thanks to Paxlovid, the world can return to normal faster,” said Annalise Anderson, who led the development of the drug.
The US government has negotiated with Pfizer to purchase the drug. Australia, South Korea and the UK have already agreed to supply the drug. The company also promised to sell Paxlovid to developing countries on favorable terms.
What to do right now?
Go get vaccinated if your doctor has not identified any contraindications. Because while scientists are inventing and testing “revolutionary” drugs against coronavirus, the most effective way to reduce the risks of severe disease and death is vaccination.
When more than 80% of the population has developed antibodies to the infection, herd immunity should stop the spread of the virus. Today, 49 million Russians (about 34% of the country’s inhabitants) already have immunity to coronavirus, but this is still not enough to stop the pandemic.