Covid19 We must not forget that state-of-the-art science and technology is being utilized in the development of the vaccine.

Behind the phenomenally rapid development is genome editing, which won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
By using genome editing to render the cold germs that chimpanzees catch harmless to humans, they have succeeded in creating antibodies.

Oxford, Pfizer, and Moderna are in the final stages of developing three vaccines.
Intake will begin next month in the United States and the United Kingdom. And, of course, the elderly and health care workers will be given a head start.

Japan, which has virtually no development of its own, will have to wait until after that.
When more than half of the entire population is vaccinated, collective immunity is created and the infection is contained.
It will take until early summer 2021 at the earliest.

As a lesson learned this time, the Japanese government must do its utmost to budget for investments in rapid vaccine development in preparation for new epidemics that may emerge in the future.

Major reforms must be made based on society’s understanding of science and technology. Now is the time to reaffirm the importance of science.