Will Governments Respond to Omicron’s Wake-Up Call?
The new normal is already here, and we need to take measures that enable us to live with it.
Regardless of the Omicron Covid-19 variant’s impact on our fight against the pandemic, its arrival reaffirms that the new normal is already here, and we need to take measures that enable us to live with it.
Central to the task are government responses that support and even reinforce the defense mechanisms we’ve developed since the pandemic erupted.
Fortifications built by science
Over the last two years or so we have built formidable defenses against the spread of the coronavirus (although much more needs to be done especially in regard to vaccinating the world). For example, vaccine makers started formulating plans for a vaccine to combat Omicron when they were alerted to the variant’s presence. They can react quickly partly because the technology to rapidly develop and deliver vaccines is now in place.
To illustrate the point, let’s look at one part of the technology: the system for delivering an RNA vaccine to the human body. The challenge is akin to that faced by material handlers and distributors in supply chains, who use packaging to protect products and support their efficient delivery to consumers. The molecules that make up an RNA vaccine are relatively complex and unstable and need to be packaged in a special way if they are to make it into the bloodstreams of human recipients. Researchers developed an ingenious delivery system using multiple biomaterials. These include tiny bubbles of fats and a molecular coating that are analogous to the bubble wrap and outside packaging used to protect products. This same biotechnology can be used to deliver reformulated vaccines quickly.
This is just one example of the many innovations developed at breakneck speed by scientists that now make it possible to speedily create and deliver vaccines in response to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants.*
Government playing catch-up
As is often the case, however, the pace of technological innovation is much faster than the rate at which governments can adapt to it. In order to respond to the mutating virus, agencies such as the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) need to develop streamlined approval processes that complement the vaccine delivery systems we have created — not impede them. The need for such a coordinated, agile system will increase in importance as new coronavirus variants threaten societies in a new normal world.
Similarly, government responses such as travel bans to new outbreaks need to be better coordinated. Governments were quick to restrict incoming flights from South Africa in their efforts to control the spread of the Omicron variant. Experts agree that although travel restrictions can buy some time in curtailing outbreaks, ultimately such actions do not stop contagions from spreading in our interconnected world.
With this in mind, we need global approaches to travel bans that minimize the economic price paid by those nations (in this case South Africa) that take the moral high ground by alerting the world to a variant that originated within their borders.
Let’s take a step back and review the travel bans imposed over the last two years and learn from what did and did not work. Is there a case for creating an international task force responsible for monitoring Covid-19 infection patterns and advising governments on how to react when dangerous mutations appear? Some might argue that the World Health Organization should fulfill this role, but the WHO’s ability to function as an honest broker is limited by the political baggage it carries. Another possibility is to learn from the innovative government funding programs that underwrote the current Covid vaccines, and establish a fund for supporting nations that report new Covid-related global threats. For instance, this funding could be used to set up rapid testing facilities for airline passengers that reduce the need to impose blanket travel bans on “whistleblower” countries.
The overall goal is to help governments combat outbreaks in a coordinated rather than a knee-jerk fashion and to incentivize, not deter, countries from reporting new variants. Of course, governments will still spin the information they receive for their domestic audiences. But at least they will have a central, relatively neutral advisory resource to draw on.
Creating a new reality
The intent here is not to scapegoat governments for Covid-19’s seemingly unending threats to our wellbeing. In fact, there is much to commend governments for, notably the early vaccine funding mechanisms described above. Also, the FDA and its fellow agencies play a vitally important role in helping to ensure that vaccines are safe.
However, the pandemic and its aftermath are now woven into the fabric of our daily lives. We need government policies and regulations that are attuned to co-existing with and controlling this tenacious virus.
*A more detailed description of these innovations is included in my new book A Shot in the Arm: How Science, Engineering and Supply Chains Converged to Vaccinate the World (MIT CTL Media, 2021).
