A resident of Korian Les Amandiers EHPAD (Housing for Dependent Elderly) receives a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Paris, France, January 7, 2021 .Photo : Xinhua
Concerns over the mRNA vaccine have grown following a report by Russia Today on Monday that all 78 residents of a nursing home in Madrid, Spain, tested positive for COVID-19 after receiving their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech on January 13. vaccine was given. at least seven people were killed.
A Chinese virologist has advised elderly people, especially those with underlying conditions, not to take mRNA vaccine like Pfizer as it could cause their condition and worsen their health, while a vaccine expert warned the public to take appropriate measures , even after being vaccinated, people are likely to become infected with the virus before the vaccination takes effect.
According to the Spanish news agency EFE, most of those who succumbed to the virus had conditions, while four residents were admitted to hospital, and 12 staff members were also infected, Russia Today reports.
The report did not say whether the deaths and cases tested positive were directly related to vaccination.
Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the Department of Pathogenology at Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the positive test for COVID-19 can be divided into two cases: one is antibody-positive and the other is the positive test. of nucleic acid.
He noted that the results of the positive testing of nucleic acid were ‘highly unlikely’. Yang explained that the vaccine could not be approved before it passed safety tests, and so it would not work like a ‘synthetic virus’ that infects humans.
A normal person whose antibody is positive after taking the mRNA vaccine has suggested that he / she be protected from infection, Yang said.
He explained that the mRNA vaccines teach human cells to make a protein to elicit an immune response, which can protect people from infection if the actual virus enters the body.
Tao Lina, a vaccine expert in Shanghai, told the Global Times that the vaccination may be causing positive IgM antibodies, which is a natural process. IgM is usually the first antibody produced by the immune system when a virus attacks.
In this case, the seven could have died of other diseases. Tao insisted on an immediate investigation into their deaths.
But if the 78 people were positive for the nucleic acid test, it would indicate that they were infected with the coronavirus before being vaccinated, or before the vaccination took effect, Tao said.
The infected patients could not have taken the necessary measures against the virus, Tao noted.
Yang warned that, unlike inactivated vaccines, the use of mRNA-based vaccines carries the risk of causing abnormal immune function, allergies or even death, especially among the elderly and people with underlying diseases.
Some components in mRNA vaccines, such as polyethylene glycol, have not been used in vaccine production before, and the mRNA-based vaccine was first approved to treat an infectious disease amid this COVID-19 pandemic, so Yang elderly citizens and people with underlying diseases. conditions for not taking the vaccine.
The reports on deaths and cases tested positive after vaccination in Spain were not the first.
In mid-January, Norway reported the deaths of 23 elderly Norwegians receiving mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. All of the deaths occurred in debilitated, elderly patients in nursing homes. All were older than 80 years and some of them older than 90, reports the Norwegian media NRK.
More than 12,400 people in Israel tested positive for coronavirus after being vaccinated with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, including 69 who received their second dose, the media reported in January.