’Twas the Night Before Christmas

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Microbiologists were stirring, clicking with mouse;
The pipettes were hung by the lab bench with care,
In hopes that vaccines soon would be there;
The microbes were nestled all snug on their slants,
Safety glasses, lab coats, but no underpants
And Mama in her ‘hairnet, and I in my gown,
Had just settled our brains at the lab downtown
When out on from the bench there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the hood I flew like a flash,
Turned on the blower, and pulled down the sash.
UV light aglow on stainless steel,
Made all the hood contents appear as unreal
When, what with my wondering eyes I did glean,
But an enveloped virus with spike protein
With antisense RNA, single stranded its true
I knew in a moment it must be SARS-CoV-2.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name:

“Now! Phizer, now! Sinofi, now! Glaxo Smith Kline
“On! AstraZenaca, On! Moderna, on! Johnson and Johnson;
“To the top of the lab! to the top of the hood!
“Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”