How Does the COVID-19 Vaccine Work? Should You Consider it?

The Coronavirus has ravaged the world for the past year or so, and so many lives have been affected, with 122 Million cases, and 2.69 million deaths. With caution about a third wave, a vaccine could not have come any sooner. Many companies have been working on one, but the four major known vaccines are from Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson.

Vaccines have played an important role in the history of humankind, ever since Edward Jenner used cowpox to inoculate against smallpox and Louis Pasteur came up with vaccines for rabies and anthrax (the same guy came up with pasteurizing milk).

But how exactly do Vaccines work?

Vaccines are designed to reduce the response time of our immune system when exposed to the pathogen (the villain in this article alias Dr. Doom to our Mr. Fantastic, alias Darkseid to our Superman). The pathogen is the stuff that makes you sick, be it a virus or bacteria. Vaccines come mainly in two forms

1. A weakened or inert form of the virus - inserted into the body so that antibodies are produced in correspondence to the antigens

2. mRNA (messenger RNA)- inserted into the body to manufacture a protein that triggers an immune response.

Once the pathogen is introduced (inserted) into the body, the body begins to manufacture antibodies that correspond to the antigen on the virus or bacteria. Think of the pathogen (virus/bacteria) as a box, the antigen is a lock, and the antibodies manufactured by the body are the key to that lock. Note that the vaccine does not make a person sick. It prompts the body to start manufacturing antibodies. Once the body manufactures antibodies, it manufactures memory cells corresponding to the antibodies, allowing them to be manufactured faster the next time the body comes across that particular pathogen.

It is worth noting that viruses and bacteria rarely have similar antigens (locks) and hence the body has to manufacture specific antibodies for specific pathogens. When the pathogen is reintroduced into the body, the memory cells quickly manufacture the antibodies, which work with the rest of the immune system such as white blood cells and lysosomes to attack the incursion and destroy them before they get the chance to reproduce and overwhelm the body.

What do the COVID-19 Vaccines contain?

With COVID-19, two main types of vaccines were used. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson used a modified common cold virus from chimpanzees (adenovirus--which does not and will not make you sick). AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson used the adenovirus together with some genes from the Novel Coronavirus to trigger an immune response, allowing the body to produce antibodies against COVID-19 without its life-threatening effects. This form comes with the advantage of not requiring very specialized equipment for storage and transportation as compared to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

Moderna and Pfizer, on the other hand, made a vaccine by use of the mRNA vaccines which manufactures a protein that triggers an immune response in the body, leading to the formation of antibodies. These vaccines require a special set of conditions for storage and transportation.

Herd Immunity...ever heard of it?

The massive roll-out of vaccines is aimed at achieving herd immunity. Herd immunity is achieved when enough people are immunized against the disease, consequentially containing it, and causing it to eventually die out. This protects the vulnerable in society who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions. In other words, your decision to get vaccinated significantly contributes to the possible extinction of this virus.

While certain individuals may opt for the vaccine, some resist due to political and religious propaganda attempting to justify its dangers. Perhaps the biggest cause of concern was the recent blood-clot claims reported in the EU and UK where less than 40 out of 17 million recipients suffered blood clots after the AZ (AstraZeneca) injection.

However, experts are coming out to attest that correlation does not equal causation in the case of the formation of blood clots and the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Developing research seems to suggest that blood clots may have been a result of low platelet counts. Patients with low counts may have had COVID-19 (but with very mild symptoms) before the vaccination. Perhaps a better idea would be to take the COVID-19 swab test before vaccinating?

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? It is entirely up to you. Ensure to read as much as you can before you decide. Remember to mask up, maintain social distancing, and wash your hands. Meanwhile, lets engage on the socials; share your thoughts, comments and questions on the same. Till next time; Yours truly, Prof Oronyi