COVID-19 left 5.2 million people dead. But the good news is that the pandemic was less deadly than the Spanish flu, which left 50 million people dead, thanks to the groundbreaking work of Dr. James D. Watson decoding the molecular structure of DNA in the early ‘50s and the scores of scientists following suit, allowing Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna to use that science not only to produce the mRNA accelerating distribution in record time of the vaccines, but also allowing science to synthesize novel treatments for countless other viruses going forward. This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for those scientists and their contributions to putting the pandemic in the rear-view mirror.
Originally posted for the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100.
Photo: wikipedia.com and logos from respective companies (Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna)