Ah, there you have another outbreak, thought microbiologist Rosanne Hertzberger initially. Quickly put some people apart and ready. But she's scared by what she's seen in the past few days. “We're learning lessons we've never needed before. “

Hertzberger closely follows scientific developments hour after hour and reports about them, including on Twitter. A few weeks ago she wrote in her regular column for the newspaper NRC Handelsblad. “Corona outbreak? It doesn't affect me anyway. “ She denounces the selfish reflexes of people, including herself. 'I enjoy the privilege of being a very healthy young woman in the midst of an epidemic that is simply not very dangerous for healthy young women. (...) The risk for me, my parents and children is small. So don't worry: corona is easy. (...) Together with all our very healthy peers we shout: come on with that coronavirus. Apple egg. “

Her or our thought safety proves to be an illusion today. The new coronavirus has no privileges. We're all in danger. Scientists are becoming more pessimistic every day, the sacred belief in the makability of our healthcare system is shaking. Hertzberger's tone has also changed in a few days. On social media she warns us: 'This virus also causes young, healthy people to death. Deathsick means a double-sided pneumonia that requires breathing and sometimes intubated. What threatens now is that there will be “triumphing” soon. “Triage” is a euphemistic term for choosing who is and who does not receive ventilation. The hideous protocols for this are now being discussed with medical-ethical committees. The 96-well plates (a certain type of cell culture plates used in a diagnostic test kit for covid-19, ed.) from Roche that are tested are on, the intensive care is becoming fuller, 10 percent of the staff are at home. Moving sick patients to other hospitals is difficult. '

You underestimated what is going on?
'Certainly. I'm really amazed that we're going through this. With SARS and MERS we have been afraid of a pandemic by a coronavirus twice before, each time it is extinguished by itself. I thought, ah, there's another outbreak. Just a few people in quarantine and it's over. '

Are these fascinating times that a scientist gets kicked off or is the fear of you?

“I am very worried about this and I am very worried. Some people get up from wartime, they suddenly come out of depression and see a purpose in their lives. That's not how I am. Today I'm a frightened citizen just like you. “
Each for himself

Hertzberger regularly writes about vaccinations, including non-specific effects. That way you can discover a new kind of short-term immune memory. It is precisely this principle that the academic hospitals in Nijmegen and Utrecht are going to investigate, they are going to use a TB vaccine to try to protect their care staff from the new coronavirus. 'This clinical trial has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee in an emergency call. An old malaria means is already widely used and investigated. I follow it handcuffed. Science is now going into a crappy journey. Suddenly, some experimental platforms that have never produced a useful vaccine before are worth gold. Biotech companies such as Moderna, CureVac, Inovio and BionTech try to produce an RNA or DNA vaccine (unlike a classic vaccine, it does not consist of dead or weakened germs, but is a genome vaccine based on genes). The first tests on humans are in the scaffolding, which is unseen fast. Chinese also quickly exposed the genetic code of the virus and shared it with the world. That inspires confidence. But honestly, I have a very heavy mind. There are also diseases that can't be vaccinated against, such as HIV. It is far from certain that vaccination will help us get rid of this. '

What does our approach to this crisis tell us about our society?
'You see both solidarity and dissuasive selfishness. Scientists are showing their best side. Citizens go hoarding at the same time. Terrifying how that everybody-for-himself reflex is just below the surface. You'll be just an intensivist who, after a fourteen hour shift, arrives at a supermarket where everything has been plundered. And in the meantime, politicians are pushing for a national approach, closing borders. Opportunistic traits are more likely. The fact that Trump wanted to buy the German company working on a vaccine is insane (according to 'Die Welt' Trump tried to lure CureVac to the US, the German newspaper wrote that he even did everything to acquire the exclusive rights. Germany veto, ed.). But also in the Netherlands Thierry Baudet and Geert Wilders shout that the government is doing everything wrong. There will be no support, the populist parties remain in the counteramine. We must ensure that this pandemic is not abused as an excuse for anti-globalism and protectionism. '

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