The Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out by the UK are a modern miracle. It is amazing that such safe and effective vaccines have been produced, tested and delivered in such record time – a true triumph of science that offers hope that our lives will soon return to normal.
The brand new technology behind some is just as remarkable as the speed and efficiency with which these vaccines are manufactured, which will change our fight against other infectious diseases and even cancer.
I first saw the power of these new vaccines last March when I spoke to Professor Robin Shattock, Head of Mucosal Infection and Immunity at Imperial College London, about a film I made about Covid-19.
The Covid vaccines are a modern miracle and offer hope that our lives will soon return to normal
Professor Shattock – whose laboratory at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, is just above the room where Sir Alexander Fleming discovered almost 100 years ago that a fungus called penicillium can kill bacteria – gave me a fridge with a new one. kind of vaccine shown what he hopes to use against Covid.
Usually a vaccine is made with a killed or attenuated strain of the virus against which it is directed.
Once injected, it deceives the immune system into thinking it is being attacked, giving the body valuable time to set up its defenses before it is actually attacked.
The approach used by Professor Shattock is very different. Instead of the actual virus, he uses short pieces of genetic material called mRNA (messenger RNA), which contains the code that the virus uses to create the club-shaped nails on the surface.
An MRNA vaccine works by causing the body to start producing many copies of the harmless club-shaped nails.
This causes the immune system to produce many Covid-specific antibodies and killer T cells (and to reassure those concerned, these vaccines have nothing to do with genetic engineering; there is no way they will alter your DNA). not).
Two of the three vaccines approved in the UK, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are based on this mRNA technology.
The success of these other vaccines has unfortunately been hampered by trials of the Imperial vaccine, but Professor Stattock hopes to make it work in other countries.
But, as he recently told me, the wonderful thing about mRNA vaccines is that not only is it safe and effective, but if the coronavirus mutates, the current vaccine can be ‘adapted’ quickly.
Professor Shattock thinks these mRNA vaccines will be a powerful new weapon against Covid-19 and also a range of other diseases, including flu, TB, HIV and cancer.
Besides infection, it is one of the most important roles in your immune system to look for and destroy cancer cells. The problem is that some cancers avoid detection until it is too late.
However, using mRNA technology, scientists were able to biopsy a patient’s cancer and identify the genes responsible for the ‘mutant’ proteins present in the disease. Once they identified the genes, they would tailor an mRNA vaccine with a chemical enhancer. , to activate the immune system to seek out and destroy the tumor.
If this sounds a bit futuristic, it’s actually done. Back in 2017, researchers from BioNTech, the company that manufactured the Pfizer Covid vaccine, reported the early human trials using this approach on 13 patients with malignant melanoma, all of whom showed signs of improvement. It was said that one, a 52-year-old American man whose cancer had spread to his liver, said, “My tumor has disappeared before my eyes.”
These are early days, but there is hope that the war against Covid-19 will yield breakthroughs that will improve many lives over time.
Give the vaccine a little va-va-vooM
Meanwhile, what, if anything, can you do to ensure you get the best protection against the Covid jab when you get it?
Since the vaccines are brand new, we are not yet sure if any lifestyle changes can increase their effectiveness, but based on studies on flu vaccines, you can use a few strategies:
1 If you are overweight or obese, try to lose a few inches. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2017 found that obese adults who had the flu were twice as likely to catch the flu as people with a healthy BMI (body mass index).
If you carry too much weight, especially around the waist, your immune system becomes less effective. (It is worth noting that Covid vaccine trials have shown that obese people have a high degree of protection.)
2 Increase your intake of prebiotics and probiotics. Prebiotics are foods rich in fiber that feed the ‘good’ bacteria in your gut – they contain kidney beans, lentils, garlic, onions and lots of vegetables.
Probiotics are live bacteria found mainly in fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi and natural yogurt.
A review of studies published in the journal Nutrients in 2017 found that the use of prebiotics and probiotics before being vaccinated nearly doubled the number of people who subsequently developed protective levels of antibodies.
Consult instagram.com/drclarebailey for simple recipes to promote your good bacteria.
3 Sleep well. In a study last year from the University of California, researchers found that healthy volunteers who slept the least the night before they had the flu produced the lowest level of antibodies to flu in the months that followed.
This is because your body produces many important components of your immune system, such as antibodies and killer T cells.
4 Exercise your arms. A study from the University of Birmingham a few years ago showed that people who did this a few hours before a flu shot developed a stronger immune response. It’s not clear why, but I’ll definitely do some printing and other workouts under my arms.
5 Stop smoking. A number of studies suggest that smoking can really reduce the effectiveness of vaccines – probably because of their effect on the immune system.
Quarantine hotels are a bad idea … and I need to know
I was surprised to hear that the government is seriously considering introducing quarantine hotels, similar to those in New Zealand and Australia, to try to reduce the threat of coronavirus variants in the UK.
I think this is really a bad idea. To begin with, I suspect it’s too late to stop new variants from creeping in.
One thing we have learned over the last ten months is that this virus is moving fast, and it seems like it is many steps ahead of us (until the new vaccines are paid for).
And while borders are closing and the use of quarantine hotels has worked excellently in countries like Australia and New Zealand, the virus is here to be entrenched to do so.
In terms of mental health, there is also a significant disadvantage in asking people to stay in a small room without daylight for a long period of time.
Having recently spent two weeks with my wife, Clare, in a quarantine hotel in Australia, I can assure you that it is extremely challenging.
You can not choose which hotel or which room, and you pay between £ 1,500 and £ 2,500 for the dubious pleasure of being locked up 24 hours a day (our room has a wall view). I suffer from mild claustrophobia and there were times that I was not sure I would be able to endure it.
The worst part is that you are not allowed to leave your room, not even for a short walk (which is clearly difficult for the 72 tennis stars who are now in one such hotel in Melbourne before the Australian Open).
A friend who was staying in one of these hotels said she once heard someone screaming in the next room for hours. When she called the reception, she was told not to worry – ‘they’re probably just having a panic attack’.
If you’ve ever been in a situation like this, it’s really a calm and reassuring companion like Clare.