Eight months after the World Health Organization officially declared the Covid-19 pandemic, a ray of hope is beginning to appear at the other end of the tunnel of uncertainty.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·3 minutes read
KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO
A health worker prepares a vaccine during a simulation of giving the anti-Covid-19 vaccine at the Tapos Puskesmas, Tapos District, Depok City, West Java, October 22, 2020.
Eight months after the World Health Organization officially declared the Covid-19 pandemic, a ray of hope is beginning to appear at the other end of the tunnel of uncertainty.
The announcement of the success of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate with 90 percent effectiveness is actually comparable to a report that is too good to be true. The news is so exciting that it’s hard to believe.
The global community is in fact overwhelmed by anxiety as the pandemic situation has not yet shown any definite sign of ending. It’s true that the rate of recovery of people infected with Covid-19 continues to increase, but mortality among victims is still high. In the same way, the rate of infection remains fluctuating.
Until Wednesday (11/11/2020), confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded at 51,861,437 all over the world. Of the total, 36,428,038 people recovered and 1,280,549 people died.
The condition in Indonesia has not indicated signs of gaining the upper hand either. Data from the Covid-19 Control Task Force yesterday revealed 444,348 confirmed cases with 232 new ones. The number of recovering patients indeed kept rising (totaling 375,741 cases), but the total deaths also increased by 72 to 14,761.
Therefore, the high effectiveness of the vaccine candidate—developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, with Germany’s biotechnology company, BioNTech—really emerges as a ray of hope at the other end of a dark tunnel. Furthermore, the 90 percent effectiveness was achieved in phase-three clinical trials.
Kompas
An electronic billboard in Times Square announces "stocks soar on vaccine hopes" on November 9, 2020 in New York City. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced positive early results on its COVID-19 vaccine trial and has proven to be 90% effective in preventing infection of the virus.
Just as already warned by experts, we should never lose our caution in spite of the rousing expectation. Even until the Covid-19 vaccine later becomes a reality, hopefully within a short time, the health protocols should become our new habitus. We need to observe distancing, wash our hands, wear face masks and avoid crowds.
On the other hand, in order not to drift into wishful thinking, we should be aware that this Covid-19 vaccine has resulted from an unusually accelerated procedure of vaccine preparation. Although all its protocols were adhered to, its long-term impact can be a big question mark.
The health profile of the Health Ministry over the last five years has shown that the national coverage of complete basic immunization of above 85 percent has not yet reached 300,000 children in Indonesia. The coverage figures need to be raised.
The same is true of access to health services, which should be facilitated throughout the Indonesian archipelago. On the other side, the Covid-19 vaccine requires a distribution system and extremely cold storage – these are challenges of their own. All this becomes a new assignment that must be immediately handled before the vaccine is ready for marketing.
We hope that all the good intention and enterprise will be within the role of divine providence. Providentia Dei.
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