Wednesday, March 18, 2020

COVID - 19 - Finding a vaccine





Do you remember the old adage about waiting for a London Bus, one can wait a long time and 
then two arrive at the same time? We all get affected by delays and changes to expected 
timetables whether on a journey or in an NHS waiting room. The NHS is finding it difficult to 
attain to the 4-hour waiting time in A & E.  

The problem of coronavirus will drastically affect both waiting and admissions at most of our 
hospitals in the UK. The virus has become pandemic approaching 5,000 deaths globally so far. 
In the UK it is expected to peak at the end of May, making the whole population vulnerable to the 
infection that is spreading from continent to continent. The news and views about how long we will be in 
lockdown changes on a daily basis.


Serious regulations have been enforced locking down movement of persons whether by air, cruise 
ships or public transport and we are advised to self-isolate for 7-14 days if flu-like symptoms 
are present. Every country in the world is waiting upon the research being carried out by the 
scientists to create an effective vaccine but it is expected to be at least 12 months before it is available 
for use. We are told that a person infected with COVID-19 will cease to be infectious between 
7 and 14 days. It is amazing that the immune system can read the structure of the invasive virus 
and produce antibodies to deal with it in a matter of days. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

The “in word” is isolation whether at home or in the Critical Care Hospital units. The most 
vulnerable are people over sixty years of age, with increased risk if you are a smoker with COPD 
or Asthma, or those with a medical problem in any age bracket.  The virus is proving to be one of the 
most infectious in 100 years with the potential of affecting 80% of the UK population.  

A cure for this virus is desperately needed. In 1976 a respiratory infection wreaked havoc when 
members of the American Legion were at a convention in Philadelphia. Many people died from 
the type of pneumonia known as legionnaires disease. The cure accidentally discovered within quite 
a short time frame. 

This is how it happened: A scientist at the end of his working day left a slide with the bacteria on it 
touching a solution of streptomycin. When he arrived at work the next morning, he discovered that all 
the bacteria had died, and the streptomycin had fortuitously provided a solution that is 
still effective for people who contract that virus. 

Other medical problems similarly have had cures discovered accidentally. Sir James Young Simpson 
and two colleagues were experimenting with chloroform, they inhaled chloroform and all lost 
consciousness and did not awake until the following morning.  If they had inhaled too much chloroform 
it would have killed them, if too little, it would not have put them to sleep, so a correct formulation for 
anaesthesia was discovered. 

In 1928 Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin, originally called ‘mould juice’, after he went on 
vacation and on his return found that green mould had contaminated his Petri dishes in the lab and 
were killing some of the bacteria he had been growing. Alexander Fleming researched further and 
found that penicillin works on many bacteria by preventing bacteria from forming new cell walls, no new
 walls, no new cells, and no bacteria growth.  

The most-deadly virus cannot equal the death rate that sin causes in the human race.  Sin is more 
serious than any pandemic because everyone is contaminated, and no accidental cure will ever be found. 
The only effective remedy is ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son’ which ‘cleanses’ those who 
believe ‘from all sin,’ 1 John 1. 7.   It is the sacrificial death of Christ that provides the sinner with 
100% cleansing. It is said, ‘it is no vain thing to wait upon the Lord’. Waiting upon the Lord implies 
a person engaging with God in prayer. God is omniscient, he knows every detail of every problem and 
can resolve every problem. 

The problem of sin is the most desperate malady in human experience. The Bible states, ‘As by one 
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned,’ Romans 5. 12.  The antidote is clearly stated in 1st Corinthians 15 verse 22 ‘For as in Adam 
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’. The cure for a sinner from the penalty and guilt of sin 
and to avoid the condemnation of an eternity in Hell is to be ‘in Christ’.  When a soul is born again, 
they are forever in Christ.  

The scripture that has been on my mind for many days is found in 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 9 
and 10, which says that the Thessalonian people ‘turned to God from idols to serve the living and 
true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which 
delivered us from the wrath to come.’

The day any sinner gets saved is the most blessed of life’s experiences.  It is essential to turn to God. 
C. H. Spurgeon once preached ‘turn or burn’, a very poignant statement of fact. The Thessalonian 
believer’s prior sins were behind them, dealt with at Calvary’s cross. Their present life was being used 
to serve God. There is nothing more rewarding for time and eternity that for a life to be lived for God. 

Waiting for ‘his Son from heaven’ holds two assurances for the believer. The first is His imminent 
return from heaven to call His blood bought people to himself, in the air, and take us home to heaven. 
The second is that you have been delivered from the wrath to come. After the church has been removed 
from earth, the period of God’s wrath called ‘the Great Tribulation’ will follow. No Christian will 
experience that dreadful calamitous judgement, but it will affect the whole world. 

Be sure, be saved, and wait for the Lord to come. 

God bless,

Written by a Guest Blogger  



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