A Hospital in Another World? Chapter 1016: The First Vaccine, Garrett, Are You Going to Try It Yourself?

A team was tasked with screening for attenuated strains of the virus.

A team was working on methods for vaccine production.

A team was researching vaccine preservation techniques.

A team was studying vaccination methods... The experimental group used the Plague Spell to stimulate virus strain inoculation, while the control group used injection methods to stimulate virus strain inoculation.

Twenty plague mages, along with the mages already in the research institute, were driven to exhaustion by Garrett. Just the task of vaccine preservation consumed all the energy of one group of mages:

"Use distilled water to dissolve the vaccine!"

"Use sterile saline to dissolve the vaccine!"

"Use 0.5%, 1%, 2%,... 5% glycerol solution to dissolve the vaccine!"

"Use 5% sucrose solution, 5% sucrose skimmed milk, 1.5% gelatin solution, 1.5% corn starch solution..."

"Store for one day, 5 days, 15 days, 30 days... half a year, a year!"

"Test all combinations!"

The key was that it wasn't just a one-time task. The preserved vaccines had to be taken out, thawed, diluted, and injected into mice again after the storage period. Then, they had to observe the mice to see if they developed any diseases or gained immunity...

"Aren't you being too harsh on them?"

Looking at Garrett flipping through the reports submitted by each group, Archmage Haines couldn't help but complain:

"Even if you don't know exactly what to do, you should at least have a general idea! Are you going to let them try every single combination until they die?"

"I really don't know exactly what to do!"

Garrett spread his hands confidently:

"If I knew what to do, I'd do it myself. Why have them do it? Because I don't know, that's why they need to try every possible combination! Rest assured, next time they work on another vaccine, at least they'll have these plans to try again..."

"..."

"..."

No matter how much Garrett pushed his subordinates, the development of the attenuated yellow fever vaccine finally made some progress. The stable attenuated strain successfully passed the test of continuous transmission over five generations, with stable virus genetics and no sudden resurgence in virulence.

The vaccine production method using 7-day-old chicken embryos inoculated with the virus strain into the yolk sac, incubated at 37.5°C to 38°C, and harvested after 70-80 hours proved to be the best, with sufficient and stable egg supply and low cost, outperforming the mouse and rabbit groups.

(Cell group? Sorry, they still couldn't keep the cells alive and thus couldn't participate in the competition.)

The vaccine preservation group determined the optimal plan: after harvesting the chicken embryos, store them at -40°C, ensure the liquid is sterile, grind, centrifuge, and freeze-dry and seal.

As for the vaccine inoculation group...

"So far, the experimental group's inoculation is fast and efficient, but the effectiveness is unstable." Garrett flipped through the experimental records—inoculation records for the mice—and discussed with Archmage Haines and others:

"It could be because the Plague Spell requires a mage's control, and different mages have varying casting strengths; even the same mage can have different casting strengths due to mood and control level each time."

This strength difference hasn't affected the vaccine's protective efficacy—obviously, the Plague Spell has a minimum activation threshold—but it has affected its safety:

"Among the mice inoculated with the Plague Spell, on average, one out of every 100 cases experiences adverse reactions—ranging from local redness and swelling, pain, poor appetite, fatigue, moderate fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, to convulsions."

"Come on, it's the Plague Spell!" Archmage Haines scoffed:

"What more do you expect? Just a bit of discomfort is quite mild compared to death from disease."

"But the control group—those inoculated with syringes—has a much higher safety rate." Garrett flipped another page in his data:

"So far, the adverse reaction rate is below one in a thousand. In terms of vaccine safety, syringe inoculation is a better method."

"But syringes are too troublesome," said Lynn softly from Garrett's right side. He had been with Garrett from the beginning of the project, extracting and injecting, working with syringes to the point of exhaustion:

"Disinfecting so many needles every day is very cumbersome... In the research institute, it's manageable, but for injecting millions of natives in the villages below, I doubt everyone would disinfect properly..."

"That's the problem." Garrett nodded slightly. In this world, no one understood better than him the consequences of improperly disinfected syringes and needles—

Before his time travel, even with widespread barefoot doctors and the productivity of the 70s and 80s, some rural areas still didn't strictly disinfect during vaccination...

The result was widespread cross-infection. If one person in a village had hepatitis B, it often led to the whole village getting infected...

Given the productivity and training levels of that time, it was like that. In this world full of natives, Garrett couldn't even imagine it.

"Using syringes would cause widespread infection... one person's illness could spread to everyone..."

"So what do you want?" Archmage Haines frowned. Garrett turned his face and stared into his eyes with anticipation, looking rightfully so:

"I want to ask you to try developing some inoculation device! Carve the spell model, insert a standard intensity magic crystal, and the virus strain—"

He gestured with his hands, pressing down:

"Click! Stable output, stable range, extremely low adverse reaction rate... wouldn't that be great?"

"..."

It would be great, but why should such a task fall on me?

Archmage Haines really wanted to retort. But under Garrett's expectant gaze, he grudgingly agreed:

"Fine, I'll do it. After all, it's a necromancy spell, digging a bit deeper shouldn't be too hard for me... Should I start now?"

"Just a little longer," Garrett smiled:

"The vaccine still needs to be tested on monkeys. If it passes the tests on monkeys, then we test its safety on humans. Once its safety is confirmed, we test its effectiveness, and then proceed to large-scale inoculation. The final step will be testing the output of the Plague Spell..."

"Wait!" Archmage Haines looked at Garrett warily:

"Testing on humans? You won't try it on yourself first, will you?—I'm warning you, if you dare, I'll drag you back to see your teacher..."

If it were in his previous life, Garrett might indeed have administered the first vaccine to himself, following in the footsteps of his predecessors. But now, he just spread his hands:

"At least I'm at the knight level physically... If I test it on myself, the reaction will be very small, and the safety test won't be accurate!"

So, if you weren't physically strong enough, you really would test it on yourself? Archmage Haines suppressed an eye roll:

"Besides that, did you forget another task?"

"What?"

"The vaccine is to be handed to the Serpent God! If it uses the Plague Spell to amplify your vaccine, one dose could be given to 100 people, wouldn't you sell fewer vaccines?"

"That's something I'll have to rely on you for!"

Garrett spread his hands.

How to communicate with the Serpent God, how to train native gods, how to get the maximum benefit from it...

For such a high-difficulty task, if an 18th-level expert doesn't step in, can you really expect me, a mere 10th-level novice, to handle it?

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