By Jonathan Tun
He was a physician who practiced medicines alone at his private clinic in River City, Ayeyawady Region and had worked nearly 50 years now without getting any success.
In his university days, he earned several successes being an outstanding student, and he even got married to a beautiful woman. After graduated, because of his strange behaviors in practicing medicine, only a few patients came; all of the patients saw him for the first time, and then left him. Like his patients, his wife also left him alone.
He was thin and tall with gray hair. Now, he is in his 70s. He was alone for a long time, and grew older days by days. Though he is a physician, the income he earned from his career couldn’t feed him, but the inheritances from his parents fed him. But he insisted practicing medicines, what he said is he does it with huge love.
In one morning of cold December, he read a piece of news. The news said people in Wuhan in China died of a new coronavirus. He didn’t read a newspaper for about two months. Now when he read again, the virus is spreading around the world. No vaccine was invented yet.
The physician had an idea to test a vaccine for the virus to help the world. Therefore, he wanted to see the virus to know well the behaviors of the virus.
After the virus became pandemic, one of his friends contacted him to help test a vaccine for the COVID-19 in a laboratory in Yangon. He happily accepted and went to Yangon where the laboratory testing for the COVID-19 vaccine is located.
He worked hard at the laboratory, taking a little sleep. He observed the behaviors of the virus daily to know its weakness and invest vaccine. He said the virus even became his friend as he has been observing more than three months. His eyes became painful as he looked at the microscope all the time.
“Be patient, my eyes,” he said. “I do this to save the world.” I wish I could live before the vaccine is invented, he thought. The virus is my brother now. But I must kill him after formulating a vaccine. Slowly and conscientiously he examined all manners of the virus daily in the laboratory.
While he was testing vaccines, he met with a boy in a PPE suit who always provides him with foods and drinks. The boy seems interesting in laboratory works. Therefore, the old physician allowed the boys to stay with him during the COVID-19 vaccine test.
Today is Sunday, and till midnight they have worked hard and both of them were very tired. When the clock struck twelve, the old man said to the boy, “Good night, boy. Sleep well. I will wake you in the morning.”
The boy said, “I do not like you waken me. It is as though I were inferior.” The old physician smiled and said, “Sleep well good boy.” The boy went out.
The next morning, they woke up early and had eaten breakfast separately under a dim light.
A few weeks later, the old physician was infected COVID-19. He was separated from the boy, and put in an isolation room, but kept formulating vaccine.
One evening, a small bird came toward his quarantine ward. The small bird entered through an opened window, and rested on the left shoulder of the old physician, and flew around the room.
“How old are you?” the old physician asked the bird. “Is this your first trip?” “Do you know that we human beings are now facing a big problem.” “Can you give me a vaccine formula for the disease?”
The bird looked at him when he spoke. “Be safe from COVID-19, small bird,” he said. The bird had flown up away when the doorbell rang.
Though his hair and clothes are messy, the aged physician’s head was clear and good now. He was full of resolution to successfully invent a vaccine for the global enemy. He took a look at laboratory equipment.
Watching the virus under a microscope, the old man said, “COVID-19, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you kill me too?”
I don’t want to die before killing you, COVID-19, he said. His mouth was too dry to speak. I must get a right formula for the vaccine this time, he thought.
Due to several successive working weeks, COVID-19 infection, and his weak body, the physician was unconscious after getting a very new formula for the COVID-19 vaccine.
It was 17th April 2020, the New Year of Myanmar, and it was a dream for him when he became conscious after he was unconscious for a week. When he opened his eyes, he saw people around him looking at him with shining eyes. When he moved his hands, their smiles became bigger. He also saw the boy who stayed together with him several days in the laboratory.
One of the people around him said,” Great physician, you did a great job for the planet and Myanmar.”” With the vaccine you formulated, we are now driving away the COVID-19. We can kill them now.”
“Sooner, the COVID-19 is going to disappear from our planet” another one around him said.
We won the battle against the COVID-19, the aged physician thought and smiled.
