Eradicating the coronavirus, whether it’s through an effective therapeutic treatment or vaccine, is the key to unlocking the economy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s granted emergency use authorization of antibody-rich plasma from recovered patients which may lessen the severity of the disease, but experts suggest further research is needed.
Convalescent plasma therapy is an experimental treatment that some physicians are using for people with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The plasma therapy has shown some promise in battling severe illness. People who’ve recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies — proteins the body uses to fight off infections — to the disease in their blood. The blood from people who’ve recovered is called convalescent plasma.
Researchers hope that convalescent plasma can be given to people with severe COVID-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus. It also might help keep people who are moderately ill from becoming more ill and experiencing COVID-19 complications, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Alex Azar, the U.S. health and human services secretary, said during a White House press briefing on Sunday that the treatment has been delivered to more than 70,000 American patients so far. The treatment, according to the FDA’s evaluation, “may be effective in lessening the severity or shortening the length of COVID-19 illness in some hospitalized patients.”
Source: The New York Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker
Over 400 vaccines and therapietic treatments are under study as researchers rush to produce effective medicines for the disease. And, 32 of the vaccines are in human trials. The FDA says that for any vaccine to be approved, it will need to prevent infection or decrease its severity in at least 50% of the people vaccinated. The goal is to inoculate enough people with a vaccine that immunity spreads through a community, even if not everyone gets the vaccine. It’s called “herd immunity”, according to WebMD.
For this coronavirus, some experts say about 60% to 70% of the population would need to develop antibodies, whether from a vaccine or getting and recovering from COVID-19, to create herd immunity.
Currently, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others from being infected by the virus are to:
- Clean your hands frequently and thoroughly
- Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose
- Cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue
- Stay home and isolate yourself if you feel ill or ‘under-the-weather’
- Maintain social physical distance of at least 6 feet from others
Wearing a mask or face covering is no substitute for these additional effective measures.
References:
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/convalescent-plasma-therapy/about/pac-20486440
- https://www.cnet.com/news/coronavirus-plasma-treatment-approved-for-emergency-use-but-questions-remain/
- https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200610/covid-19-latest-updates