Rapid Development of Covid-19 Vaccine, Achievements, and Lessons Learned

Reading 2 Summary
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The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic surprised many countries due to its seriousness and impact on all sectors. The journal article by Bok and colleagues recognizes the urgency that followed as the government, including the United States administration, pulled resources to collaborate with other like-minded actors to address the crisis.1 One of the approaches embraced by the different stakeholders was to institute coordinated preventative efforts to curb the spread of the disease. They also embarked on ongoing research to design and develop multiple vaccines to eradicate the illness. Thus, the resource by Bok and colleagues reports the rapid development of the coronavirus vaccine, achievements, and the lessons arising from this initiative.
Main Message of the Reading
The main message from this reading is that developing effective vaccines for overcoming infectious diseases is a sophisticated endeavor that requires a lot of time and concerted efforts from different players, including state and non-state actors. The authors acknowledge that the United States and its multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder groups had to combine their efforts to combat an unknown yet lethal virus that caused the coronavirus disease.1 Various entities contribute their strengths in approaching the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, Panner and colleagues support this observation in their research about multi-stakeholder participation in managing disasters.2 Thus, the article emphasizes the value of pooling resources in accelerating vaccine development during the pandemic.
A comprehensive description of different elements that boosted the achievements recorded by the U.S. in this endeavor sends the message that the nation did not reach such milestones by chance. Instead, it drew significant influence from the capacities of the different entities that have demonstrable vaccine designing technologies and platforms for fast-tracking the design and testing as needed.1 As a result, the article accredits the rapid emergence of diverse vaccines with desirable efficacies to the robust infrastructure and available expertise that approached the development targeting various proteins and using different platforms due to the urgency of the situation. This coordination demonstrates that the world can overcome any pathogen crisis by pooling its resources and working together for a common goal. Thus, although the process remains ongoing, the achievements have underlined the unprecedented strength of diverse stakeholders working together.
Overview/Explanation of Biological Concepts
The article explores important biological concepts related to vaccine design. It illustrates the fundamental need for the relevant stakeholders to explore the essential elements of COVID-19, including its transmission, epidemiology, and pathogenicity, to inform the process.1 Other essential details include the SARS-CoV-2 immune evasion and antigenic properties. This understanding led the scientists to progress fast in studying the various alterations they can make to the SARS amino acids and boost the immunogenicity of individuals when attacked by this virus protein. As a...