Hope beings to bloom, finally, after weeks of panic, as science magazines and publications all over the internet report on new COVID-19 vaccines being produced and tested all around the world.
Science News published a special report on Sophia Upshaw, one of the brave volunteers for a possible new COVID-19 drugs in the early testing stages. Sophie is one of fifty people in the Seattle and Atlanta areas who have volunteered to be injected with two doses of the vaccine. The subjects will attend regular clinic visits to monitor their progress. Unlike typical vaccines, this one contains messenger RNA, which is hoped to give the body instructions on how to make the proteins that will protect the body from COVID-19, should it infect the host.
Science Daily published an article on another possible vaccine for COVID-19 discovered in British Columbia, Canada, which instead of utilizing mRNA, will block the "cellular door" through which COVID-19 enters the body. The vaccine is currently a trial drug.
Finally, Science Magazine contributed another glimmer of hope to the seemingly hopeless situation: out of around a dozen or so potential treatments being developed for the new Coronavirus, most are relatively cheap to make. For one of the treatments, it's been estimated that the cost will be $1.50 or less per patient, per day. However, cost efficiency for the makers of the drug doesn't equal cheap drugs for the consumer. In the United States especially, drug companies have a tendency to inflate prices. Doctors Without Borders hopes that drug companies such as Gilead will do what it takes to keep prices for potential vaccines down for wide availability to all consumers who need it.
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