Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance - Fall 2020 | Page 8

BREATH EASY
TO STOP COVID-19 SPREAD –
BREATH EASY
Almost daily, leaders worldwide
say they are racing to develop a
coronavirus vaccine in perhaps
the most urgent mission in
the history of medical science.
The word vaccine is being held out as a holy
grail—a vaccine will save us. A vaccine will
bring us back to the life that we knew.
But the repeated assurances of nearmiraculous
speed in developing a vaccine is
exacerbating a problem that has largely been
overlooked.
Earlier last month, a nationwide task force
of epidemiologists and vaccine behavior
specialists released a report saying that
success of Operation Warp Speed, the $10
billion public-private partnership that
is driving much of the vaccine research,
“rests upon the compelling yet unfounded
presupposition that ‘If we build it, they will
come.’”
In fact, wrote the group, “[i]f poorly designed
and executed, a COVID-19 vaccination
campaign could undermine the increasingly
tenuous belief in vaccines and the public
health authorities that recommend them.”
A growing number of polls find many people
saying they would not get a coronavirus
vaccine. Even many staunch supporters
of immunization say they are wary of this
vaccine.
Mistrust of vaccines has been on the rise,
though it actually started with questions
around the invention of the smallpox
vaccine in the 18th century. Even then there
were vaccine skeptics, including Benjamin
Franklin who later saw the light and
recanted.
Now, much of the mistrust is in the speed
with which the vaccine is being produced.
Most vaccines take about a decade. Often,
billions of dollars are poured into vaccine
research with no results. There is no HIV
vaccine, which has been in research for over
20 years, and none for breast cancer, which
has been under research even longer.
The only remedy for this pandemic is a
vaccine, and the faster you get one, the
faster the pandemic will end. But the faster
the vaccine is produced, the more skeptical
people are going to be. So instead of being
a virtue, speed is actually an undermining
force.
In addition, even with proven vaccines,
uptake is limited. Public health specialists
say the safest way to protect a community
from flu is vaccinating everyone, even if
they are not at high risk. The reason being,
it stops transmission. Yet, even with an
average of 55,000 influenza deaths per year,
only about 45% of American adults get
vaccinated.
So, what can get the world back to a
normality where people can enjoy the
camaraderie and social interaction we long
crave? If you don’t have COVID-19 and I
don’t have COVID-19, then the both of us
should be able to socialize without fear. But
how would we know unless we both test
negative at the time we are together?
A test in now being developed in at least 3
countries (Israel, Finland, and the United
States) that is simple, inexpensive, and
provides results almost instantaneously. It
is a test that almost everyone is familiar
with—a breathalyzer.
The technology for breathalyzers evolved
from the sensors used 20 years ago for
monitoring gases in automotive exhaust.
The breathalyzer for COVID-19 uses
artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the
novel coronavirus in exhaled air where
nanosensors will detect and measure shortlived
organic compounds.
Results can be viewed directly within 15
seconds to two minutes. The breathalyzer
is extremely inexpensive, with some cost
estimates of a little more than two dollars. It
is easy to use and there are no machines or
need for trained personnel to perform the
test.
Most carriers of COVID-19 have only
mild symptoms, and there is evidence that
asymptomatic people can infect others.
Researchers are working on getting the
breathalyzer detection level so it can identify
COVID-19 infection even before symptoms
are present.
If the device proves to be accurate, portable,
and effective, it could be used to screen
travelers before going on a flight; test
students and teachers each day before
school; and test patients in every hospital
and doctor’s office.
It may mean the world can return to normal.
And with that, the opening of everything else
— stadiums, concert halls, restaurants, etc.
The breathalyzer technology may also
eventually become the platform to help
detect metabolic problems like cancer,
Alzheimer’s disease, or diabetes.
According to the Finnish company Forum
Virium Helsinki, the breathalyzer will be
tested using control groups in Finland
and Kazakhstan, and later this fall in the
Netherlands and the United States.
So don’t hold your breath (pun intended),
keep wearing a mask, and continue
practicing social distancing. Soon we will all
be able to breathe easier. +
BY: ERIC P. WOKAS, CSP ARM
RISK CONTROL CONSULTANT
JGS INSURANCE
Eric Wokas has over 25 years of
experience as a risk management
consultant working for various major
property/casualty insurance carriers
including Continental, Zurich and
Gerling as well as Aon an international
insurance brokerage firm. At JGS
Insurance Eric continues to assist clients
in development and implementation of
practical solutions in reducing risk.
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