This article aims to show how to prevent new pandemics based on the opinion of experts and the stage of research aimed at the development of vaccines to immunize the population against the new Coronavirus based on information on the progress of research on vaccines essential to combat Covid 19. As will be presented in the following paragraphs, humanity will have to make profound changes in its relationship with nature to prevent new pandemics from occurring that threaten its very existence and invest heavily in R&D aimed at developing vaccines to face up to current and new viruses.

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PROTECTION OF NATURE AND COMBATING THE EXPLORATION OF
WILD SPECIES TO AVOID NEW PANDEMIAS AND URGENCY OF
VACCINES TO IMMUNIZE THE POPULATION AGAINST THE NEW
CORONAVIRUS
Fernando Alcoforado*
This article aims to show how to prevent new pandemics based on the opinion of experts
and the stage of research aimed at the development of vaccines to immunize the
population against the new Coronavirus based on information on the progress of research
on vaccines essential to combat Covid 19. As will be presented in the following
paragraphs, humanity will have to make profound changes in its relationship with nature
to prevent new pandemics from occurring that threaten its very existence and invest
heavily in R&D aimed at developing vaccines to face up to current and new viruses.
Article Mais destruição da natureza, mais pandemias (More destruction of nature, more
pandemics), published on the website <https://climainfo.org.br/2020/03/19/mais-
destruicao-da-natureza-mais-pandemias/>, informs that the destruction of biodiversity
promoted by humanity can create the conditions for the emergence of new viruses with
unprecedented transmission power and lethality. Human beings have always lived with
pathogens from nature, some beneficial, others mortal. A few were as deadly as the
Bubonic Plague and the Spanish Flu. This situation is repeated with the pandemic of the
new Coronavirus. In this article, it is also reported that a 2008 survey identified 335 new
diseases that emerged between 1960 and 2004, of which 60% came from animals.
David Quammen, author of Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Pandemic, wrote
in The New York Times that man invades tropical forests and other wild environments,
which harbor various species of plants and animals, and within these creatures there are
numerous unknown viruses. By cutting trees, killing animals or caging them and sending
them to markets, man destroys ecosystems and spreads viruses from their natural hosts.
When this happens, viruses need a new host that is often man himself.
Article Parem de destruir a natureza ou teremos pandemias piores, alerta grupo de
cientistas (Stop destroying nature or we will have worse pandemics, warns group of
scientists), published on the website
<https://oglobo.globo.com/sociedade/coronavirus/parem-de-destruir-natureza-ou-
teremos-pandemias-piores-alerta-grupo-de-cientistas-24398235>, signed by professors
Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio, who led the most comprehensive study
on “planetary health” ever, reports that “there is a single species responsible for the
Covid- 19 pandemic: us ”. And, if the destruction of nature does not end, it is likely that
even more deadly and destructive diseases will hit humanity in the future, more quickly
and more frequently. The warning comes from the world's leading biodiversity experts.
The researchers said that "rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture,
intensive agriculture, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation
of wild species" created what they called a "perfect storm" for the spread of disease.
In the article by Erick Gimenes Ação humana contra o meio ambiente causou a pandemia
do coronavírus, diz pesquisador (Human action against the environment caused the
coronavirus pandemic, says a researcher), published on the website
<https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2020/03/18/acao-humana-contra-o-meio-ambiente-

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causou-a-pandemia-do-coronavirus-diz-pesquisador>, Allan Carlos Pscheidt, doctor in
Plant Biodiversity and Environment and professor at the Faculdades Metropolitanas
Unidas, in São Paulo, says that the destruction of habitats of other animals will make
epidemics more and more common. The new Coronavirus has spread across the world
thanks to the destructive and invasive action of human beings against nature. The
organism that causes Covid-19 has long been in the environment, probably housed in bats
native to untouched caves, according to the professor. With the increasing urbanization
and consequent human invasion, however, the virus broke its natural cycle and reached
other beings, such as man, whose organism is not yet prepared to fight it.
According to the researcher Allan Carlos Pscheidt, the pandemic of the new Coronavirus
leaves clear lessons: we urgently need to worry about unbridled consumption, the
recurrent destruction of the planet and climate change. The spread of the new Coronavirus
is a direct result of this. Pscheidt warns that, in an interconnected world like the one we
live in today, viral epidemics must become increasingly common. For him, if we do not
evolve into a more conscious and less selfish society, humanity will be decimated by new
pandemics. As long as it does not protect nature to prevent new pandemics, humanity will
have to produce vaccines that will make it possible to immunize the entire population
from current and new viruses, given that they are fundamental for combating diseases.
Throughout history, vaccines have helped to significantly reduce the incidence of polio,
measles and tetanus, among many other diseases. Today, vaccines are considered the most
cost-effective treatment in public health. The reality now is that the world needs a vaccine
against the new Coronavirus that causes covid-19. It will probably not be ready in the
next few months. Maybe this will only happen in 12 or 18 months. There is currently a
race to develop vaccines. Ewen Callaway's article The race for coronavirus vaccines: a
graphical guide, published on the website <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-
01221-y>, presents several ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-
CoV-2.
More than 90 vaccines are being developed against SARS-CoV-2 by research teams at
companies and universities around the world. The researchers are testing different
technologies, some of which have never been used in a licensed vaccine before. At least
six groups have already started to inject formulations into volunteers in safety tests; others
started testing on animals.
SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: a variety of approaches
All vaccines aim to expose the body to an antigen that does not cause disease, but will
elicit an immune response that can block or kill the virus if a person becomes infected.
There are at least eight types being tested against the coronavirus, and they depend on
different viruses or viral parts.
Virus vaccines
At least seven teams are developing vaccines using the virus itself, weakened or
inactivated. Many existing vaccines are made this way, such as against measles and polio,
but require extensive safety testing. Sinovac Biotech in Beijing has started testing an
inactivated version of SARS-CoV-2 in humans.

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Viral vector vaccines
About 25 groups say they are working on viral vector vaccines. A virus like measles or
adenovirus is genetically modified to produce coronavirus proteins in the body. These
viruses are weakened and cannot cause disease. There are two types: those that can still
replicate within cells and those that cannot because the main genes have been disabled.
Nucleic acid vaccines
At least 20 teams aim to use genetic instructions (in the form of DNA or RNA) for a
coronavirus protein that prompts an immune response. The nucleic acid is inserted into
human cells, which produce copies of the virus protein; most of these vaccines encode
the virus' peak protein.
Protein-based vaccines
Many researchers want to inject coronavirus proteins directly into the body. Protein
fragments or protein shells that mimic the outer layer of the coronavirus can also be used.
Industry trials
More than 70% of the groups that lead vaccine research efforts are from industrial or
private companies. Clinical trials begin with small safety studies in animals and people,
followed by much larger studies to determine whether a vaccine generates an immune
response. The researchers are accelerating these steps and hope to have a vaccine ready
in 18 months.
It appears from the above that there is an urgent need to adopt measures to protect forests
and combat the exploitation of wild species to prevent new pandemics and the
development and production of vaccines capable of immunizing the population of the
new Coronavirus is urgent. In the absence of a vaccine to protect the population, there is,
at the moment, no alternative but social distancing. It is, therefore, demonstrated that
humanity will have to make profound changes in its relationship with nature to prevent
new pandemics that threaten its very existence from happening and to invest heavily in
R&D aimed at the development of vaccines to face current and new viruses.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 80, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System,
member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional
Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of
strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the
books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem
Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os
condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de
Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora
Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos
na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social
Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica,
Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate
ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores
Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no
Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba,

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2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua
convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro
para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).