In the hours before the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use in the US, I telephoned epidemiologists and medical experts outlining the expected benefits of widespread vaccination: there would be fewer deaths and fewer serious cases of COVID-19, so that hospitals would not be so overwhelmed. The people I spoke to call the news a “light at the end of the tunnel” moment. Getting shots in as many arms as possible is key to gaining herd immunity, they said, so that we can finally have a semblance of normalcy again before the pandemic.
But as the three approved U.S. vaccines – Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson – have expanded to more than 100 million Americans, we have learned that there may be more unexpected benefits to vaccination than experts initially saw. Here are just a few of them.
Many of the vaccines offer at least some protection against the variants
Although the rapid vaccination of the vaccine has made the future seem brighter than in a while, there is at least one ominous cloud hanging over us: COVID-19 variants, which are mutated strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Experts believe that some may be more contagious and possibly more deadly than the original strain. You have probably heard of the B.1.1.7, the B.1.351 and the P.1 variants that hit Britain, Brazil and South Africa respectively.
When these strains were first identified, experts were unsure whether the existing vaccines would protect against them. Fortunately, studies have shown that both messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are very effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. And although these vaccines are four to seven times less effective against the P.1 variant, they can still provide a protective cushion, especially after two doses, Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during said a press release from the White House. Early research pointed to the idea that both mRNA vaccines and Johnson & Johnson would be less effective against the B.1.351 variant. Earlier this month, however, Pfizer released trial data showing that their vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 in South Africa, where B.1.351 is common. To be on the safe side, the developers of all three of the vaccines approved in the United States are working fast to make their formulas more effective against the variants and experiment with boost shots.
“All of the vaccines currently work very well for serious diseases and are likely to provide some protection against the variant,” said Preeti N. Malani, MD, chief health officer at the University of Michigan. “I’m optimistic, but we still have to be careful.”
Some COVID-19 long shepherds say the vaccines relieve their symptoms
Between 10% and 30% of people who get COVID-19 experience long-term symptoms, says the National Institutes of Health. Some people who have dealt with persistent issues now say that the vaccine has helped relieve their symptoms. “This is going to be a huge number of reports, hundreds of reports of patients we’ve been treating with COVID for almost a year now,” Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, head of infectious diseases at ProHealth, told CNN. “They report that after vaccination they have a significant, if not complete, solution to their long-term COVID symptoms.”
In a survey of 345 people – most of whom lived in the UK and were female – 32% reported that their persistent COVID symptoms improved two weeks or more after their first vaccination. Other researchers are also investigating this, although no peer-reviewed studies on this topic have been published.
It is too early to say why the vaccine may relieve long-term symptoms. It is possible that there are long-term problems in people who can not remove the virus from their bodies; the vaccine can cause a robust response of the immune system to destroy the virus that causes COVID-19 once and for all. It is also possible that prolonged COVID symptoms are caused by some form of immune dysfunction. The vaccine can cause an “immune recovery” that solves the problems, explains Dr Malani. ‘We still do not understand why some people run the risk [long COVID], “She adds,” but the fact that we even hear anecdotes from people who say they have reduced symptoms after the vaccine is promising. “
The COVID-19 shots pave the way for future vaccine research
In 1796, the first vaccine ever against smallpox was created when a British doctor injected a patient with pus ‘from the sores of a milkmaid who contracted a biologically related virus from cows’, says the Association of American Medical Colleges. Until 2020, a similar method was used for all vaccines (minus the pus) – patients who often inactivated or attenuated the virus themselves. But what scientists have learned while developing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines could pave the way for future vaccines, including diseases such as HIV, flu, Zika and rabies. Human trials for mRNA vaccines against these diseases were already under way before COVID-19, an analysis of Nature notes). Unlike other vaccines, mRNA vaccines work by instructing our cells to make proteins or pieces of protein that help our body recognize a key piece of the virus and create an immune response to it.
“The vaccine field has been forever transformed and progressed forever due to COVID-19,” Dan Barouch, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccination at Harvard Medical School, told the AAMC.
Pregnant people can transfer immunity to newborns
Although the vaccine trials do not include pregnant people for ethical reasons, to date more than 69,000 pregnant people have been vaccinated in the US, and early research suggests that the vaccines are likely to be safe and effective during pregnancy.
Not to mention the preliminary findings of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology also indicates that if a pregnant woman receives the vaccine while she is expecting, it can also provide protection to newborns. It builds on other research that has shown that vaccinated people can transmit antibodies to COVID-19 through the placenta to the fetus. More research is needed to confirm these findings, but if they are true, it will be big news as some newborns are more susceptible to serious diseases, and a vaccine is unlikely to be approved for this age group any time soon.
Vaccination can make people less contagious
The COVID-19 vaccines mostly prevent people from contracting the virus. But in the rare case that someone has tested positive post-jab, their virus load will probably be much lower than that of a person who has not been vaccinated, an Israeli study suggests (this is not yet a peer review). There are two benefits to having a low virus load (which refers to the amount of virus detected in someone’s system): It has less risk of serious diseases and may not spread the virus as easily to others.
The vaccinations can reduce COVID anxiety
Of course we knew the vaccine would be a relief, but many people say they did not expect to feel so good after-shot. “In the past year, people have been afraid to do normal things like see their friends and family, and they were really lonely,” says Dr Malani. “Being isolated and lonely is also a major health risk, and it can physically claim younger and older adults.” For some, it feels like taking the first deep breath in a year and giving up the COVID anxiety.
“After the second shot – I had that ‘aha’ moment that things look up and we move to our new normal, whatever the new normal will be,” said New Yorker Alexa Nikiforou. ‘There was a sense of hope
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