Will Kalamazoo Get Experimental COVID-19 Drug Sent To Michigan?
We are entering a new phase in the Coronavirus Crisis. One that is somewhat of a bridge in the race for a cure. Experts continually say that a vaccine could take 18 months to 2 years. So how do we get back to some semblance of normalcy until then?
I look at the situation like the AIDS epidemic of the 80s. Not in terms of the virus itself but the way science proceeded to deal with it. At first it seemed once you got it you were going to die. Then it became a virus that you could live with. It's in some ways similar to cancer today. Depending on which cancer you develop, there are treatments that allow patients to manage the disease.
Already we are seeing and hearing about drugs that don't cure COVID-19 but are a treatment to reduce the severity of the virus and the time spent on ventilators and in the hospital. In the past couple of weeks we've seen drugs used that have reduced hospital stays by about 4 or 5 days days.
One of the drugs is Remdesivir which you may have already heard of. It was originally developed to treat Ebola but didn't work. Now it has proven to have some positive effect. According to an article on 9and10news.com, the Department of Health and Human Services is sending the drug to some of the hardest hit areas of the country and Michigan is one of them. About 40 cases containing 40 vials each are headed our way. The question is, will any make their way to Kalamazoo?