By Noralyn Onto Dudt The END of the pandemic is not yet upon us, and with variants making their rounds, it looks like it may never end. However, as the latest research holds promise and has the scientific community looking up, we can greet the New Year in good spirits. The COVID-19 emergency has unleashed an unprecedented surge of innovation and collaboration in research. Just as the virus started spreading around the globe about two years ago, scientists around the world became more adept at rapid response, sharing genetic sequences and clinical data at the speed of light, enabling more discovery. Although the first wave of vaccines showed their limitations, they have performed magnificently. Millions and millions of the world population are fully vaccinated, and an enormous amount of suffering and death has been averted. However, vaccine efficacy does wane, facilitating the need for boosters as one variant after another threatens to upend any progress that has
Online edition of The Ilocos Times, a community newspaper based in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.