Towards the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, while most of us began working from home, scientists, including chemists, played a large role not only in the development of a vaccine, but in keeping everyone safe, too.
For example, this included the production of hand sanitizer, disinfectants, and other products that help prevent the virus from spreading. These supplies and other chemicals were vital in the fight against Covid-19, providing some hope during a very dark period.
Although we now have a vaccine, chemists are still hard at work creating more products and finding new ways to battle future variations of the virus. Nonetheless, in this article, we will discuss the key role in which chemistry has played, and continues to play, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Producing essential products during Covid-19
For starters, during the pandemic chemistry and chemists have played a key role in producing essential products for hospitals. For example, this not only includes antibiotics for regular patients, but also for those with the coronavirus. The same applies to disinfectants, ensuring hospitals, doctors, and other places of work and health are kept sanitized and clean, reducing the risk of infection.
Keeping the lights on…
Many people think that chemists are solely responsible for the production of antibiotics and the fight directly against the virus. However, a lot of chemists also perform various other jobs. One of these is electricity, ensuring our homes receive ample and safe volumes of electricity, keeping us entertained while stuck inside. Just think: what would we have done without Netflix…
Other chemistry jobs include the flow of clean water to our homes – another luxury and an essential during these unprecedented times.
Managing laboratory supplies and equipment
Finally, chemistry and Covid-19 require the management of laboratory supplies and equipment. This equipment is not only used for groundbreaking research directly on the virus, but also for the other products we all now consider essential, such as hand sanitizer.
Some chemists worked from home during the pandemic, conducting research while others were more hands-on, performing jobs such as those listed above.
Chemistry is crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic
We hope this article has illustrated just how crucial the role of chemistry and chemists has been (and continues to be) during the coronavirus pandemic. Without chemists we would not have a vaccine, enough hand sanitizer and disinfectant to go around, our homes would not be powered, and to put frankly, we would be in a lot worse position than trapped indoors watching Netflix or working from home.