COVID-19 Vaccine vs Pseudoscience

Pensive Pragmatism

I miss going out. I miss the background noise of strangers chatting, drinks clinking, and music bumping. I’m looking forward to the days when I can eventually go back to those times; chatting with my friends while I’m sipping on my old fashioned, having our own conversations, exchanging ideas, sharing stories, and embracing each other’s emotions. In college, I probably spent too much time hanging out on the weekend, a series of shenanigan that can be justified as “networking” or can be condemned as just simply being young and irresponsible. Regardless, I have no regret and I would do it all over again, but I digress.

Fortunately, I’m a very adaptive person. Believe it or not, I have only ventured outside of my apartment less than three times in the past five months. What?? — yes, you read that right, a person who could not stand still back in college could switch into living like an introvert, staying inside for more than 98% of the time in the past five months. Some people might think that this motivation comes from paranoia, but I assure you, it is not.

We’re lucky that this pandemic came at a time where technologies can significantly help flatten the curve. Imagine COVID-19 responses without contact tracing, geolocation, uber eats, amazon prime, and many more. As such, technologies also help entertain ourselves much better these days simply with the power of the internet. Movies, video games, zoom calls, and other forms of virtual entertainment are there for us whenever we’re feeling bored or stressed out because of the quarantine. Obviously, this won’t work for everybody, but I believe that the more we put things in perspective and understand how good we have it, the better we’ll be at adapting to the current situation. If your city has relatively flattened the curve, then feel free to go outside responsibly, following all the precautions necessary.

Be the parent that answers with “I binged a new Netflix series every weekend and played Ghost of Tsushima” when your future kids ask what you did during the pandemic. I also think that it is the best time to build. If you’re fortunate enough to be bored in the current pandemic, utilize those times to develop skills or to pursue projects that you’ve been meaning to take.

Vaccine Updates

It’s mid-August and the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States passed five million. A number that is 10x greater than the number of Americans who passed away during World War II. We’re nowhere closer to flattening the curve; pathetic.

US Daily COVID Change — Source: Google

With that, I want to use this piece as an opportunity to gather all COVID-19 vaccine-related news and updates, providing a better understanding on where we’re right now, and to serve as a personal note for myself whenever I want to assess the latest updates in the future.

Data Source: Milken Institute

If two companies that are based on different countries are working together, both countries will be counted individually.

We can see that amongst the vaccines that are in Phase II & III, meaning that they’re the closest to deployment; the majority of them are being developed by Chinese-related entities. In the US, the simple fact of wearing a mask has been politicized. Now imagine if the first vaccine for COVID-19 comes from China. I can certainly foresee the insanity and weird responses from skeptics and even public figures that will try to twist any kind of facts to present the “China Bad” argument and discourage people from taking the vaccines even if there’s strong scientific evidence behind it.

Useful Sources:

• raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
• who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines
• https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
• statnews.com/feature/coronavirus/drugs-vaccines-tracker/
• covid-19tracker.milkeninstitute.org/
• airtable.com/shrSAi6t5WFwqo3GM/tblEzPQS5fnc0FHYR/viweyymxOAtNvo7yH?blocks=bipZFzhJ7wHPv7x9z

If you have a strong understanding of virology, biology, or any in-depth medical background and want to collaborate on a project that analyzes and presents COVID-19 vaccines data in a more coherent manner, please reach out!

Ludicrous Pseudoscience

People in their twenties and thirties are getting the coronavirus and becoming potential super spreaders. As the most active cohort to return to socializing, we’re feeling less concerned about the virus’ implication because of our youth, neglecting the fact that this pandemic is not over. Additionally, recent polls showed that only half of Americans said they would be getting the COVID-19 vaccine if one exists. *Insert Expletive*

Art by Nadia G.

Either people are just that afraid of needles, or perhaps the ludicrous conspiracy theories and pseudoscience have finally caught up to young people. What originally started on Facebook groups among Karens have now starting to get into the minds of younger people, who are falling prey into dubious claims and clickbait titles which eventually turn into another shady product or multi-level marketing being sold towards these enthralled individuals.

With that said, please be aware that the pandemic is not over.

Let’s do our part and quench this virus. The better we’re at it, the sooner we’ll get back into hanging out at the bars.

Cheers!

-Marco

Originally published at https://www.marcomanoppo.com on August 14, 2020.