The wave of optimism generated by news from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech about the likelihood of a Covid-19 vaccine hitting the market sometime next year didn’t take too long to subside. And it’s not too difficult to understand why. As details about the magic vaccine began coming out it turned out that it would have to be stored at temperatures around minus-80 degrees Celsius, which will be impossible for most countries to manage, and it will require a two-shot dosage, which again will be hard to work out for countries with high poverty rates since people would have to travel large distances to get it. That was enough to turn everybody’s mood sour in a hurry and even international financial markets, which shot up without a worry on the initial news, soon fell back to earth.
The initial euphoria about a likely vaccine, however short-lived, only goes to show just how desperate the world is to finally find a cure for this terrible virus. But while experts are making progress all the time and eventually there will be a vaccine that works and is easy enough to administer for all countries to manage, let us not forget that in the meantime the virus is spreading very fast. Already it has brought healthcare systems, as well as economies, in North America and Europe to their knees. And the way the global recession is deepening, very deep trauma is expected across Asia’s emerging markets as well.
Pakistan also finds itself at a make-or-break moment. For the past few months it drew praise from all across the world for its remarkable handling of the first wave. But now it faces a very stiff threat from the second wave. The way the numbers of new cases and deaths are increasing it seems it is only a matter of time before the mini-lockdowns have to be extended. That would deal a savage blow to the economy. Therefore everybody should make sure that all necessary SOPs are followed at all times. If the virus gets out of control at this point, it will not take long before the medical infrastructure to be completely overwhelmed. And of course the economy would follow. The next couple of weeks will decide which way Pakistan will go. Pfizer and its partner are wished all the best in their endeavour, but right now their progress makes little difference in how states manage the virus.
