CLEVELAND — Believe it or not there are a few positive things that have come out of this pandemic, at least, regarding healthcare.
We've seen unprecedented collaboration between our local health systems, and on Thursday they released a joint letter to the community stressing the importance of basic protective measures as the best way to curb the virus.
Our senior health correspondent Monica Robins had an exclusive interview with Cleveland Clinic's CEO Tom Mihaljevic .The pair discussed a multitude of topics including the steps being taken towards a vaccine.
Mihaljevic also shared insight on new technology being used to help the body fight COVID-19. It uses fragments of the virus' coding system to help create an immune response, rather than an entire weakened virus.
"Those new methods are exciting because they allow us faster development of the vaccine....what is really encouraging is very many manufactures and academic institutions are making very rapid progress. There is a reason for the optimism, but it has to be optimist that has to be associated with academic rigor, scientific rigor and caution," explained Mihaljevic.
According to Mihaljevic, vaccine developers have already started to produce the vaccine before it is tested and approved, so it's ready for distribution as soon as possible.