Photographer: Micah Green / Bloomberg
Photographer: Micah Green / Bloomberg
When it became clear in early 2020 that the Sars-CoV-2 virus posed a pandemic threat, researchers investigating it an innovative way to make vaccines saw an opportunity. Experimental messenger RNA vaccines have been recognized for years for their potential speed and flexibility in a fast-moving epidemic, and were among the first Covid vaccinations to be passed in human trials. The effort paid off when vaccines by the end of last year Moderna Inc. and the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech SE partnership was the first to be effective. Because the technology is so new, these vaccines are particularly vulnerable to disinformation campaigns aimed at deterring people from being shot.
1. How do mRNA vaccines work?
It works in a different way than previous generations of vaccines. Instead of introducing the body to an inactivated or attenuated version of a virus or a piece of it, they temporarily turn the cells of the body into small factories that make vaccinations. They do this using synthesized versions of something called messenger RNA, a molecule that normally transports genetic coding from a cell’s DNA to its protein-making machine. In this case, the mRNA instructs the body to make the spike protein that Sars-CoV-2 uses to enter cells. This in turn stimulates the body to make long-lasting antibodies against the virus. Messenger RNA vaccines are faster to develop than traditional ones because their production does not require viruses or viral proteins in living cells. Also, the modular nature of mRNA makes the design of new vaccines relatively simple. It took researchers just a few days in January 2020 to devise the mRNA sequence used in Moderna’s Covid vaccine.
2. What do we know about its effectiveness?
In the Phase 3 trial involving more than 30,000 participants, Moderna’s vaccine was 94% effective in preventing symptomatic cases of Covid, according to the company’s submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There were no cases of serious illness in people who received the vaccine, compared to 30 in the placebo group. According to its report, Pfizer’s vaccine was 95% effective in stopping diseases in its Phase 3 trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine after the peer review process, which examines research by experts in the same field. Although there were fewer serious cases at trial, the limited data were consistent with protection against serious illness. Actual results are only just starting to roll in, but so far they are looking good. Data-reviewed information from Israel’s largest healthcare organization found that Pfizer’s shot after 94 doses was 94% effective against the symptomatic Covid and prevented 87% of the Covid hospitalizations. published results.
3. What do we know about their safety?
Both vaccines can cause strong reactions, especially after the second shot, including headache, muscle and joint pain, and fever. For example, in the Moderna trial, after the second dose shot, most people under 65 experience fatigue and muscle aches; about half had chills and 1 in 6 people got fever. In both vaccines, these side effects are less common in older adults. After the vaccines were approved for use, officials reported rare cases of severe allergic reactions. One theory is that by lipid nanoparticles that cover the vaccines, and help to carry them into the body. These events are rare, and range from 2 to 5 cases per million shots were given, according to data through Jan. 18 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They can usually be treated with adrenaline, also known as epinephrine; a small minority of cases required intubation. A study of data up to and including 18 February from Massachusetts General Hospital reported a higher percentage of severe allergic reactions, approx. 2.5 cases per 10,000 shots, but concluded that the overall risk ‘remains extremely low’. Meanwhile, a separate study by Mass General showed that some people get it delayed rash after receiving Moderna’s vaccine. Although this outcome is sometimes dramatic, it is not dangerous, the researchers said.
4. Who disseminates disinformation about the vaccines?
Traditional anti-vaccine activists are increasingly on the rise joined forces with figures on the alt-right, a predominantly online political movement based in the US, whose members espouse extremist beliefs, is usually focused on ideas of white nationalism. High profile conservatives including Fox News personality Tucker Carlson has doubts raised about Covid vaccines in general. According to the US State Department, several online platforms linked to Russian intelligence, spread disinformation about mRNA vaccines; Modern and Pfizer are American companies. An Kaiser Family Foundation the survey found that antibodies are disproportionately dependent on Facebook for their information, while people who want the vaccine would rather read newspapers or watch TV news.
5. What do they say?
- The steps have been skipped in the development and authorization of the vaccines: it is true that the vaccines have reached the market in record time, but it is not because any test steps have been skipped. Companies accelerated the process by taking a few simultaneous test steps, and in the case of Moderna’s vaccine, the U.S. government took financial risks by paying to accelerate production before the results were there.
- The vaccines have never been used by the FDA: This is true in the sense that the agency has so far only granted permission for emergency use. This is a existing mechanism created to expedite access to medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency such as the Covid pandemic. The The FDA has previously determined that Covid vaccines should be at least 50% effective in preventing disease in large-scale trials, and that they should show safety with two months’ follow-up data on trial participants. The vaccines were also examined by a panel of independent advisers. Both Moderna and Pfizer have said they plan to apply for the vaccines regularly this year.
- Critics have pointed out that mRNA vaccines are being labeled as a form of gene therapy, suggesting that the shots may alter your DNA in some way: it does not. While the messenger RNA they use is a type of genetic material, the vaccines differ from what are commonly considered no therapy in that they do not alter the DNA within cells. “It does not affect our DNA in any way,” said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. explain. In fact, mRNA molecules in the vaccines, which are short-lived, do not enter the nucleus of cells where DNA is stored, the CDC says.
- That the lipid nanoparticles in the vaccines may contain antifreeze: This is not true. Antifreeze contains ethylene glycol, which is toxic. The lipid nanoparticles include polyethylene glycol, an inert compound found in everyday products such as toothpaste and shampoo, and in many remedies, including laxatives.
- That the vaccines can cause antibody-dependent improvement, or a worse case of disease in those who become ill despite vaccination: this was a theoretical problem when testing for Covid vaccines began. There have been hints of this problem in animal studies of some vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a coronavirus associated with SARS-CoV-2. However, according to Stanley Perlman, a coronavirus researcher at Covid, there is no indication of this in human trials of mRNA vaccines for Covid. University of Iowa, which served on the FDA advisory panel that reviewed the vaccines.
- That we do not know the long-term effects of the vaccines: this is always the case with new vaccines. But side effects against vaccines usually appear in the the first few months after vaccination, so the FDA insisted on two months of safety data before it was approved. No adverse events have been detected since then that would indicate a problem with the vaccines, the CDC said.
- That there are more side effect reports for Covid vaccines than for flu vaccines: this is not an appropriate or meaningful comparison, says Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The number of reports tends to rise when a treatment or vaccine appears in the news, and there is nothing more in the news than Covid vaccines. In the US, these reports may be is submitted by someone and is not a confirmation that a vaccine has caused an adverse event. Given the large number being vaccinated, some unfortunate people will get sick and even die shortly after receiving shots, regardless of the vaccine.