After many months of pain, scientists are giving us reason for cheer

Editorial: Social distancing, coronavirus-secure environments, improved treatments, faster, easier testing and effective vaccination programmes will surely push back against the pandemic in 2021

The Oxford vaccine seems to work via two channels, simultaneously limiting the scale of early infection as well as stimulating the immune response in cells already infected (Getty/iStock)

At a time when the coronavirus pandemic is far from over, and when the virus shows disturbing signs of resurgence in some places, good news is certainly to be cherished. If nothing else, the efforts of brilliant research scientists, often working across national borders and oblivious to commercial considerations, offer us some hope not only some respite from Covid-19, but also liberation from careless and incompetent politicians.

Recently there have been some very encouraging developments. The Oxford Group’s vaccine has shown good progress in its first phase, for example. It is one of 23 clinical trials taking place around the world (with more to follow), and, while all the scientists claim that this is not a race, they may be understating their natural competitive instincts, which is no bad thing in this case. In fact, at least in principle, there may well be more than one “winner”, albeit against a general vaccine failure rate of 90 per cent. One vaccine may be more effective than another, but one might be easier to administer, while another might be cheaper to produce, and another still better for certain target populations.

The Oxford vaccine seems to work via two channels, simultaneously limiting the scale of early infection as well as stimulating the immune response in cells already infected. As a British enterprise there is legitimate pride to be derived from the successful first stage, but no need for chauvinism. The more variety and choice of vaccines the better, and there is no shortage of resources.

Nor is the Oxford Group vaccine the only sign of promise: treatment and testing technology is also moving forward. Another interferon-based drug, developed by the Synairgen company, appears to radically improve a coronavirus patient’s chances of avoiding the deadly stage, and improving longer-term outcomes, which we now see can be extremely debilitating for survivors. It joins dexamethasone in the armoury of the medics.

One concern about the coronavirus is how highly infectious it is even in pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. Now, so-called “spit test” trials in Southampton show how a simple swab-free test can rapidly identify infection, and thus close down the risk of spreading an outbreak. If a weekly rolling national testing programme was implemented it would not only reduce the transmission rate but boost confidence and allow everyone to pay a part in the effort to eliminate the virus.

But what if parts of the population, perversely, seek to evade their obligations, especially in receiving the vaccine? People have long been suspicious of vaccines, by their nature, just as some have feared chlorination of water supplies, or 5G for that matter. The efficacy of the MMR vaccine – the maintenance of herd immunity – has been compromised in recent times by a false claim about a link with autism, and the rise of the anti-vax movement. It may be that the conspiracy theorists and the anti-vaxxers succeed in limiting the beneficial impact of the coronavirus vaccines, just as they are attempting to with face coverings, depressingly. The politicisation of coronavirus, hugely amplified by social media, can certainly be put down as something of a man-made disaster in recent months.

Taken together though, social distancing, virus-secure environments, improved treatments, faster, easier testing and effective vaccination programmes will surely push back against the pandemic in 2021. In some countries it could conceivably be eliminated, though less so in densely populated open countries such as Britain.

A certain amount of caution is also well advised, particularly when it is remembered that a virus can mutate and vaccines can prove only partly effective and durable. Only one infectious disease, smallpox, has ever been eradicated by a vaccine, and that took from 1796, when Edward Jenner introduced it, to 1980, when the World Health Organisation declared the world free of smallpox.

As the experts often warn us, coronavirus will be lurking somewhere for a long time to come, and Covid-19-style zoonotic viruses could easily emerge. For now, though, only a few months after the first reported cases, science is making astonishing progress.