“We Have Never Developed a Vaccine Against Coronavirus”

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

So, one of the wonderful things circulating is that we have never successfully developed a vaccine against a coronavirus. Ack! What makes us think this time is different?

Hopefully I can shed some light on the matter…in a positive way.

No Vaccines for Human Coronaviruses

First of all, it is absolutely true that we do not have a vaccine for any human coronavirus.

There are a number of common human coronaviruses. They cause mild respiratory disease, and you’ve almost certainly had one. Or more than one.

It’s called the “Common cold.” (As a note, coronaviruses are far from the only cause of the common cold, a generic term used for a variety of respiratory illnesses).

We don’t have a vaccine against these coronaviruses not because we “can’t” but because it’s really not worth it. For the vast majority of people infected with these viruses, they feel a bit unwell for a few days. Complications are rare.

The more serious coronaviruses are SARS and MERS. SARS disappeared before the process of developing a vaccine could finish, as did MERS. We’re building on that knowledge now.