Appliance of Science: Women in the fight against Covid-19

Across the globe, women are helping to combat Covid-19 on every level, from vaccine development to treatment and care

On International Women's Day, we look at the part women have played in battling the virus.

It is just over a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic. As today is International Women’s Day, it seems an appropriate time to take a look at the role women have played in the fight against Covid-19.

Vaccines

Up until a few months ago, mRNA was not a familiar term to most people, but that has all changed and it has become part of our vernacular. This type of vaccine was the first to give us all the hope we needed. The concept for using mRNA as a therapeutic tool is not new, but one of the pioneers in this regard was Dr Katalin Karikó.

Dr Karikó could see that mRNA had great potential in the fight against diseases. Her commitment to research in this area led her to move country and endure repeated grant rejections, demotion and ill health; but she persisted. Today we all benefit from Dr Karikó’s belief and determination — the basis for the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines comes from research carried out by Dr Karikó and her colleague, Dr Drew Weissman.

There are many other women working at the forefront of Covid-19 vaccine development. Professor Sarah Gilbert was the Oxford project lead for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Once the genetic code for the virus was published, she built on previous vaccine development methods she had created to adapt them for Covid-19.

Vital discoveries

Some of the important discoveries in the treatment and control of Covid have come from unexpected sources, such as the work carried out by Anika Chebrolu to identify a potential inhibitor of the virus. Anika completed this work from her bedroom, during the pandemic. It is not unusual for great ideas to come from people working from home, but what makes this discovery so remarkable is that Anika carried out her research as part of a school science project. Anika is 14 years old and her discoveries have won her the 3M Young Scientist challenge.

Women on the frontline

Research and data collection carried out by the WHO shows that women make up 70% of the global health force. However, they hold only 25% of the leadership positions. Female frontline workers are less likely to have access to full or correctly fitting PPE; much of the PPE is designed by men and comes as ‘one size fits all’, so it is not well adapted to women’s bodies. Despite the additional risks, these women have continued to provide vital care and support to those that need it.

Going to extremes

Women have been shown to really go that extra mile in combating Covid-19. An all-female medical team is rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine in rural Alaska. For these frontline workers, keeping vaccines at a low enough temperature is not a problem, but they have had to come up with ways to stop it freezing during vaccination. They have solved this problem by keeping the syringes warm under their clothing until the last possible moment. They have also overcome the problems posed in accessing these remote villages, travelling by bobsled when necessary.

Closer to home

From a global to a more local perspective, there are so many examples of the amazing role women are playing to combat Covid-19, from Professor Karina Butler, chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, and Dr Catherine Motherway (one of the country's top intensive care doctors), to the women we share our homes with, providing the comfort, understanding and care we all need right now.