Graphene And Covid-19: Scientific And Social Aspects

Humanity is suffering the greatest crisis in the last 80 years. The rapid expansion of COVID-19 has caused more than 27 million people affected and almost 900,000 deaths (data from September 9, 2019). All countries have been affected and the disease is having extremely negative social, labor and economic connotations. COVID-19 is also being studied from a scientific point of view, with many research groups working on various aspects such as the study of the virus, its origin, the infection mechanism and possible prophylactic and therapeutic solutions (vaccines and small molecules). All scientific areas are involved in the fight against COVID-19. This article summarizes some of the scientific advances in the development of drugs against COVID-19 and the role that materials science, in general, and graphene, in particular, have in this context. The impact - through the media and some politicians- that these advances have on society is also discussed.