It’s been over a year since the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, made its debut in the world. Several quarantines, tons of masks, endless testing and plenty of social distancing have plagued the earth (pun intended). Scientists created vaccines, which have reduced hospitalizations and helped us transition back to our pre-COVID lives. But still, all these protocols and preventative measures are still in place. I guess you can never be too cautious or too prepared, right? No one knows what lies ahead of us, not really. When exactly will things start to get better?
COVID-19 and vaccines
To start, let’s talk about the COVID-19 vaccines, which are in fact working … so far. But as previously observed, new strains and variants of the virus easily develop. Will old vaccines work for new variants? According to Gregory Ruthig, associate professor of biology, the ability to adjust current vaccines for new variants is possible. This has to do with how they are made. On the one hand, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use something called messenger RNA, also known as mRNA.
“(The mRNA uses) your cells’ own processes to make a protein that’s part of the spike protein of the coronavirus, and so then your body is exposed to that spike protein without the rest of the virus,” said Ruthig. “It elicits an immune response so that if you’re ever exposed to the real thing your body recognizes it much faster.”
Spike proteins protrude from the outside of coronaviruses and help them infect human cells.
On the other hand, the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines use an adenovirus, which is another kind of cold virus, similar to coronaviruses. This virus delivers the mRNA into your genome, then causes you to produce the same spike protein, just like the other vaccines. Both animal and human models tested these Jack Plewa – Co-Editor-in-Chief Illustration by Allyson Randa COVID-19 and the next pandemic vaccines. They work in different ways but produce the same outcome.
But are either of those options really safe? According to Ruthig, “There’s no risk of infection.”
As far as other, more long-term side effects, we don’t know, but they’re unlikely. People do get cold-like symptoms or allergic reactions in the short-term, but long-term effects remain unknown. The protein produced in your body won’t live forever, according to Ruthig.
Currently, the Dyson Wellness Center does not offer COVID-19 vaccines to the NCC community. However, they hope to have them to distribute eventually, said Director Tatiana Sifri.
“It certainly is our goal to be able to do everything in our power to help contribute to making the campus safe and healthy so that everyone can do what they’re here to do,” said Sifri. However, it’s a challenging process right now to make that happen. Dyson is currently figuring out if/when they’ll be able to offer vaccinations.
What now?
We can’t just jump right back into the preCOVID lifestyle. We must slowly ease back into it. To do so, people can start getting vaccinated.
“Herd immunity is based on the rate of transmission, so if transmission is really high, that means you need to vaccinate more people; if transmission is really low, you can have herd immunity when you vaccinate fewer people,” said Ruthig.
If everyone socially distances, wears masks and receives vaccinations, the number of cases may go down over time. In order to go back to pre-COVID life, about 70-80% of the population must be vaccinated.
However, immunity to common cold viruses doesn’t last, according to Ruthig, so reinfection with COVID-19 is possible. While previous infections offer some immunity, he believes that vaccination will provide longer immunity. Moving forward, Ruthig guesses that people will need a booster for this every year, similar to flu shots. With about 1 million vaccines distributed every day, if not more by now, the entire population of the U.S. can be vaccinated within a year from when vaccinations started.
Ruthig mentions that we need to get kids below the age of 16 approved to receive the vaccine. The effect of COVID-19 vaccines on children currently remains unknown.
In addition to children, Ruthig thinks we should also push for supplying underdeveloped countries with vaccines. “For humanitarian reasons, but also for our own benefit, we need the world to be vaccinated,” said Ruthig.
Ruthig further mentions the idea of vaccine nationalism. The World Economic Forum defines this as when “the richest nations have secured billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while developing economies struggle to access supplies.”
This push for developed countries to get access can slow the global economic recovery.
“It’s the developed world’s best interest … the wealthy world’s best interest to really work on getting vaccinations to the entire world,” said Ruthig.
While it’s definitely possible to wipe COVID-19 from the face of the earth, similar to smallpox, Ruthig thinks it’s unlikely due to the fact that the vaccines do not last long.
Eventually, the situation will shift from a matter of public health to personal health. Once vaccinated, people will only need to worry about very short-term, minor symptoms if they end up getting sick. Vaccinated people will already have a level of protection where they can come out of infection quickly and safely. COVID-19 will become endemic, just like the flu, and we should mostly return to normal. However, the virus will never go away.
Fortunately, we’ve had a very mild flu season this past winter, most likely because of the social distancing and mask-wearing that we did to prevent catching COVID, since the flu and COVID both spread through the air and very rarely from surfaces.
It is also possible to get co-infected with the flu and COVID. Some viruses will outcompete others in a host, while others will facilitate each other, such as HIV and Tuberculosis. However, according to Ruthig, the flu and COVID-19 don’t seem to have an impact on each other.
Dyson’s role on campus
“The goal is to be able to collaborate with everyone across campus on … what is the best use of our time and how can we plug ourselves into where we’re most needed,” Sifri said.
Much of Dyson’s time goes to working with contact tracing and advising a plan, with contact tracing being their biggest priority. They also work with school committees to come up with solutions and work on the #TogetherNC pledge. This is a joint effort with the office of marketing and communications, campus safety, operations, etc.
“We’re all working together,” said Sifri.
Dyson recently hired two new contact tracers, so now they have four total working on campus. Dyson’s role has changed because they’ve never had contact tracers before the pandemic.
“We really did learn a lot together about working together as a team across all areas of the campus and we learned a lot about that cross-communication and how critical it is to work together and to support each other,” said Sifri.
The next pandemic
With the end of a pandemic approaching, it’s clear now that another one could emerge. Whether it be next year, in five or 10 years, in the next generation or after we’re all gone. Are we ready for the next pandemic? Will the world be prepared ahead of time to prevent a microscopic pathogen from wreaking havoc across the 58 million square miles of land on this earth? Will NCC be prepared?
According to Sifri, there is so much unknown about possible future pandemics. She said the best way to approach it is to address the systems we have in place as an institution. Moreover, we need to talk about the ways and methods in which we communicate. “In terms of future pandemics, there are certain processes and protocols that North Central has developed over the past year that could be useful if and when the College is faced with another pandemic,” according to Peter Barger and Michael Hudson, co-chairs of the College’s COVID-19 Institutional Response Team. “Further, for any future pandemic, the College would continue to work within the guidelines and regulations provided by outside bodies such as the CDC and state and county health department.”
On a more biological level, Ruthig talks about bushmeat and animal farming. “Bushmeat trade is a place where pathogens get into human populations, particularly bats,” said Ruthig. Examples of pathogens that have spread from bushmeat include HIV, Ebola and SARS. Additionally, proper education and reducing animal contact on meat preparations can reduce the spread of diseases. This could potentially help to prevent future pandemics.
Looking at the U.S. as a whole, having enough PPE produced and available is vital in preparing for future pandemics. Developing future vaccines with RNA technology or using adenoviruses is promising. And on a different note, cultural differences definitely affect how well-prepared countries are for pandemics, especially when it comes to whether or not people follow the rules and mandates.
The biggest takeaway from this pandemic that Sifri mentions is supporting and recognizing each other. Meeting the needs of everyone is essential. She also said that it’s very important to seek support and to reach out to Dyson and use their resources provided online and to use the new telehealth system called Students Care. She wants to encourage everyone to get the help they need, especially since the pandemic seriously impacts mental/physical health.
So, let’s make sure that we learn something from this pandemic. Don’t act like it just didn’t happen and move on. Instead, move forward, occasionally looking back, strategizing and preparing for the next pandemic.
Faculty Feature: Is your field prepared for the next pandemic?
Michael Blight, assistant professor of communication and media studies
The double-edged sword of all things social media is the power to broadcast information, which includes the dreaded misinformation. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have created several mechanisms to help create cognitive friction in their design (e.g., interactions that prevent users from accomplishing their goals). Twitter users are now prompted to click and read an article if they attempt to share it without first reading it. Certainly, these features are far from misinformation stoppers. Instead, Twitter notes these features are designed to “help promote informed discussion.” These platforms’ business models require users to stay active on their platforms. Until we implement critical thinking and civil discourse curriculum into our school systems, we will have to rely on social media platforms to create the environments for civility.
Ann Keating, Dr. C. Frederick Toenniges professor of history
I don’t think we are prepared for the next pandemic, but I think the current one has shown us a template for making those preparations. As a historian of Chicago, I see connections to past crises and our response to them. Cholera ravaged Chicago annually between 1849 and 1855, affecting everyone, but most of all, the poor immigrants living in the worst districts. In response, city leaders launched an ambitious infrastructure program to build a water and sewerage system for all Chicagoans because the ill-health of the poorest affected everyone. Similarly, the COVID epidemic has ravaged Chicagoans in the last year. While it attacks without regard to race, ethnicity or class, we have seen that communities of color and those of lower-income have suffered disproportionately. In response, I hope that we will launch another ambitious infrastructure program to create the public health and social service networks that will afford equal access to good health care and prevention.
Paul Bloom, associate professor of physics
Climate change does not directly cause disease of course. The next pandemic will be caused by a virus or bacterium. But where will that pathogen come from? It might be due to a mutation of a known pathogen (like Influenza or Ebola), but as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shown us, we are likely more vulnerable to pathogens that are novel to humans. This is where climate change comes into play. As we warm the earth, ecosystems are shifting, which in turn is forcing the ranges of various wildlife as well as the pathogens they carry to come into closer contact with human civilization. This is already happening due to our unmanaged growth as we encroach on the few remaining wild places, but the process will accelerate. This will inevitably cause us to come into contact with more and more pathogens that are novel to us (a process called zoonosis). The question is not whether there will be another dangerous pathogen capable of causing a pandemic, but when. And while we can be better prepared for that event in terms of the public health and immunology response, we can also help ourselves by slowing the rate at which these zoonotic events occur by slowing down our growth into animal habitats, and by reducing the rate at which we are changing those habitats through our greenhouse gas emissions.
Leila Azarbad, professor of psychology
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people’s mental health around the world. Rates of stress, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and many other psychiatric illnesses have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that over 42% of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in December compared with only 11% one year earlier. Social isolation, unemployment, anxiety about contracting the virus and disruptions in education and daily routines are just some of the key contributors to our heightened distress. So, are we ready for the next pandemic? One could argue that we have experience now, and “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” It is true that humans tend to be more resilient in the face of stress than we give ourselves credit for. However, on the other side, the negative psychological impacts of the pandemic are not declining, nor are they expected to decline anytime soon. Many have experienced significant trauma that will affect them far beyond the pandemic. We need time to heal.
Robert Moussetis, professor of international business
We are not ready for the next pandemic. The frequency and complexity of viruses will only increase. On the other hand, global interaction will not regress. It has never regressed; historically, it pauses only to move forward again. Therefore, this necessitates an international response strategy and coordinated tactical approach. Just like the environment, countries, states and cities cannot have a diversity of policies with a varying application. The debacle of the COVID response and vaccination process, here in the U.S., is a clear example of the need of a well-coordinated Crisis Management method. Environment and pandemics clearly dictate a global response plan to isolate and suppress them quickly. For those involved in developing strategic health (pandemic) policies, this pandemic was not a surprise. We just did not know when. In fact, basic research reveals that we had all the information that it would happen relatively soon. And, it did! The U.S. government had established a pandemic crisis response mechanism under Barack Obama that unfortunately was abandoned by the next administration. Maintaining a pandemic response mechanism (logistics, research, etc.) may be an expensive proposition but I would argue that our car insurance is expensive and rarely used by most of us, nevertheless, we all carry one … just in case! Again, it will take a good faith approach by all the major powers and leading countries to work together and devise policies to address this meaningfully and timely. I am skeptical that in an increasingly multipolar world we will find effective leadership and solutions. We are not ready for the next pandemic.
Jason Rice, assistant professor of sport management; sport management program director
First, let me say that I am sorry to be a downer, but my general view is that NO, sport is not well prepared for another pandemic. The main reason for this is because we still have a lot of issues with the current pandemic. While serious cases of COVID-19 remain low within the sport community, containing the virus without creating a “bubble” has proved challenging. Here we are (over) one year after the first reported U.S. infection and sporting events are still being canceled. With the possibility of live sporting events being “super spreaders,” we have seen venues in Chicago with zero fans for an entire season. Across the board, sports that rely on gate revenues (ticket sales, concessions, parking, etc.) have and will continue to be financially impacted as they have lost somewhere between 30–65% of total revenue (pre-pandemic). While many professional sport teams have financially propped themselves up to survive, they have done this by collecting debt and reducing costs (mainly through reduced payroll). The sport industry will be digging itself out of the current pandemic for at least a few years. Not until then, and after considerable reflection, will we be ready for the next pandemic.
