The Vaccine Hype
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jul 28, 2020
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
A tea set is put on the table. PETER is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.): This could be the last time I can eat in for a while due to the imminent new public health hygiene measure.
Peter stares at his bowl of noodles.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Would this be my last bowl of roast goose noodles? If I'm infected with the coronavirus, there's such a risk.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When there's a safe, efficacious and effective vaccine for mass vaccination, the pandemic problem should go away.
INT. STUDY - DAY
Peter is watching TV news.
PETER (V.O.): Phase III clinical trials of candidate vaccines are happening. Something that could have taken 4 years to discover is now done in 4 months.
On his phone, Peter checks a coronavirus vaccine tracker.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're now 140+ candidate vaccines not yet in human trials, 18 are in Phase I (testing safety and dosages), 12 in Phase II (expanded safety trials) and 6 in Phase III (efficacy tests on 30,000 healthy people) and 1 has been approved for limited use.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To accelerate vaccine development, some vaccine developers combine Phases 1 & II trials.
Watching TV.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If the clinical trials go well, there should be a number of approved coronavirus vaccines for general use by year's end.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The critical situation of the pandemic requires a critical solution. It triggers a worldwide innovation race for vaccines against the coronavirus.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Vaccine developers have different hypotheses. First, some use Genetic Vaccines ie use of the coronarisus's own genes to provoke an immunity response. The US one, now in Phase III trial in US, is based on messenger RNA to produce viral proteins in the body.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The US/Germany/Chinese one, now in Phase II/III trials in US, Germany, Brazil and Argentina etc, is also a genetic vaccine.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Second, some use Viral Vector Vaccines ie use a virus to deliver coronavirus genes to provoke an immunity response. The UK one, now in Phase II/III trial in England, and Phase III trials in Brazil and South Africa is based on this.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The only one vaccine that has been approved by the Chinese military on June 25, 2020 for a year after Phase II trial is also a viral vector vaccine.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Third, some use Protein-Based Vaccines ie use a coronavirus protein or a fragment protein to provoke an immunity response. No candidate vaccine is in Phase III trial yet.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Fourth, some use Whole-Virus Vaccines ie use of a weakened or inactivated version of the vaccine to provoke an immunity response. Two Chinese vaccines in Phase III trials (one in Brazil, and another in United Arab Emirates) are based on this.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Fifth, some use Repurposed Vaccine ie vaccines already in use for other diseases that may also protect coronacvirus. The Australian one is in Phase III trial too.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When some of these vaccines are approved and made available to the world, the pandemic can be eradicated before long.
Awakening.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh my god, I'm being influenced by the media of the vaccine hype. I'm actually at the peak of my inflated expectations.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Would such vaccines, when approved, be 100% effective?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even if they're fool-proved and are made available to the world, what if a percentage of the world population refuse to take any of the approved vaccines?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Wearing a face mask in public has been an insurmountable hurdle, from ordinary people to people in authority, in some countries.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What if just only those vaccines conceptualized in China would work? Would those who're anti-China take them?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's also the possibility that none of these candidate vaccines would work at all. Smallpox is the only disease that the humankind was able to eradicate it in 1980, after centuries of effort.
Peter looks disillusioned.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Before any vaccine against the coronavirus for general use has been approved, we all have to take all the precautionary health measures.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No one can be complacent.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But enlightenment requires maturity, and that will take time.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Only when all are enlightened as to what we should do would the real plateauing or the new normal begin.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Pandemic issues and developments are still in a state of flux.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I want to eat out again, today is the last opportunity in Hong Kong, China. Should I take the risk? No.
FLASHBACK
INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
A tea set is put on the table.
END FLASHBACK
THE END
FADE OUT.
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