Vaccination Anticipation
UC Davis researchers join the global race for a COVID-19 vaccine
BY Jessica Laskey | DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION BY Kelly Barr PHOTOS BY Fred Greaves s the world continued to settle into the uneasy stasis of pandemic life in July , Dr . Angela Haczku was already five months into her research on COVID-19 .
In March , the respiratory immunologist and associate dean for translational research at the UC Davis School of Medicine was tasked with overseeing the development of research projects related to COVID-19 , including the development of testing , therapies and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 , the virus that causes COVID-19 . Haczku ’ s assignment to head up this immense scientific undertaking came just weeks after UC Davis Medical Center had diagnosed the United States ’ first case of community-acquired COVID-19 in late February .
“ We had a suspicion that the patient had ( the virus ),” Haczku says , “ but testing was not readily available ” for patients who didn ’ t meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criterion at the time that the virus could only be acquired after having direct contact with someone who ’ d traveled to China , where the virus originated . “ Thanks to the insistence and persistence of UC Davis doctors , the CDC and local authorities finally approved our request for testing — and the patient tested positive .
Because of our case , the ( Food and Drug Administration ) relaxed criteria for test development to keep up with the sneaky nature of this disease .” The local case showed that the virus was no longer localized to China and had spread into the international community , which meant that testing was going to need to be more rapidly and widely available to identify — and , hopefully , help contain — the spread .
The novel coronavirus was first detected in November 2019 and “ sequenced ” ( its genetic makeup determined ) by January , so researchers around the world were already working on a vaccine before the general public
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