The first is an AMA:
A therapeutic could be available well before a vaccine. Ideally this would reduce the number of people who need intensive care including respirators. The Foundation has organized a Therapeutics Accelerator to look at all the most promising ideas and bring all the capabilities of industry into play. So I am hopeful something will come out of this. It could be an anti-viral or antibodies or something else.
One idea that is being explored is using the blood (plasma) from people who are recovered. This may have antibodies to protect people. If it works it would be the fastest way to protect health care workers and patients who have severe disease.
And speaking of convalescent blood therapy, this is also worth reading:
A simple and medically feasible strategy is available now for treating COVID-19 patients, transfuse blood plasma from recovered patients. The idea is that the antibodies from the recovered patients will help the infected patients. The idea is an old one and has been used before with some success.
And this is the second article by Bill Gates, worth reading in full, and so I will not provide an excerpt. Consistently applied restrictions on movement across the entire country, a clear strategy on how to prioritize testing, and a clear plan on developing a treatment and a vaccine are the key takeaways. Applicable mostly to America, or written with America in mind, but really works across the entire planet. India has applied the first of these as well as she could have.
EconForEverybody 