UCI Professor Finds Coronavirus Vaccine A Better Option Than Cure

A nurse holding a vial of COVID-19 vaccine.

Orange County is prioritizing the economic reopening aspects in the safest possible way when some coronavirus vaccines are available. The vaccine may not be a cure, but public health professionals say that it is the fastest path to a normal state for the country.

Despite a COVID-19 cure being unavailable, Andrew Noymer of the University of California, Irvine, states that history suggests that vaccines could be more efficacious as compared to a cure. At the same time, Noymer, who works as UCI’s Population Health and Disease Prevention Public Health Professor, said that coronavirus would not disappear anytime soon.

Vaccines are much better as compared to cures in many regards, Noymer told Irvine Weekly, while adding that measles is incurable. For your information, measles is a form of contagious disease, just like today’s COVID-19. Noymer is certain that there would be a different wave of the coronavirus disease in the county and elsewhere. Anyhow, Noymer is unsure when that would happen and how unpleasant it would be. As for Noymer, it is in the universe’s nature for infectious diseases to be sudden occurrences.

Orange County entered California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy’s red tier three days ahead of the nation’s first COVID-19 safer-at-home ordinance’s first anniversary. Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA) officer Nichole Quick issued the ordinance last March, and it marked the start of COVID-19 in this county to a great degree.

Before the ordinance, there were only 166 coronavirus cases in the county, plus no reported fatalities. Soon the coronavirus disease would soon have a stronger effect in OC and elsewhere.

A year afterward, there were around 250,000 coronavirus cases, including about 4,500 fatalities, in the county.

Under the tier, some economical elements such as indoor dining, gymnasiums, and cinema halls can resume operations from April 01, 2021, alongside business locations such as stadiums and theme parks.

As for Noymer, there are many COVID-19-related unknown factors, even as vaccination has been introduced. Anyhow, he is not bothered about permitting the act of reopening amusement parks and bigger outdoor gatherings in stadiums, at limited seating capacities.

The theme park activity is mostly outdoors, said Noymer while adding that these venues do not keep him from sleeping at night.

The nightmare situation from Noymer’s viewpoint is the coronavirus strains that could cause the present vaccines to be less ineffective. As an example, he points to how South Africa stopped using the vaccine from AstraZeneca because of a level of inefficacy against the coronavirus variant there.

That is the sort of situation that affects Noymer’s sleep, especially because there are examples of it and it is a real threat. He said that anticipating what the coronavirus would do next is trickier.

Regarding reopening precautions, he recommended following a phased approach to the process, citing the unknown things, instead of emulating Texas.

As for him, it is important to recognize the fact that we are not aware of all those factors that cause the situation.

Orange County, the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), and OCHCA are working to give every native the vaccine by July 04, 2021, under their Operation Independence partnership.

Mayor of Irvine, Farrah Khan said that even though every city copes with a limited supply of vaccines, the county appears to be on course to achieve the full vaccination by the said date.

It is realistically possible, said Khan, but only if they have the expected number of the vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration has officially accepted the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. This has to increase the vaccine count they get, said Khan. The greater number of the products they get, the quicker they can vaccinate individuals, she added. For your information, Farrah Khan started the first COVID-19 Recovery Task Force based in a city for Orange County.

As of mid-March, this county has vaccinated almost 480,000 individuals with 1,005,143 dosages of the product, even though OCHCA’s database shows 300,000 fewer doses because of a reporting delay.

Notwithstanding the countrywide push for vaccine administration, Noymer said that coronavirus testing would be useful for people with its symptoms who are yet to receive the vaccine.

Testing will be vital to keep up the pace with potential COVID-19 strains, as well as for individuals with any form of symptoms. Noymer recommends discovering whether a symptom is COVID-19-related or only a cold after receiving the vaccination. As for him, it is a possible sign of an emerging COVID-19 strain. That takes him back to the nightmare situation of the virus that bypasses the vaccine.

When vaccine supply and reopening efforts are on the rise, the professor was asked whether he could put the coronavirus epidemic in words. The questioner gave him two options: ‘COVID-19, one year later’ and ‘Pandemic Year Two’. When offered the two options, he chose the latter since he feels that OC is still in an epidemic state. The county may be doing OK on any particular afternoon, but that does not mean this is not an epidemic, he said.