Let's Talk About COVID | learnyourdream

Let’s talk about COVID vaccine

After a year and a half of restriction, we and the rest of the world are still worried about COVID 19. We all have done our best to follow the guidance of hands…face…space. But the virus still threatens to dictate how we live our lives. The COVID 19 vaccine was invented to help us protect ourselves from this virus. The vaccine is designed to prepare our body’s defenses so when we get exposed to the virus, our immune system is able to fight back and reduce the severity of the infection. It will be just like suffering from a common cold.

How are vaccines made?

Vaccines normally takes several years to develop but scientists worked not stop together to get the same amount of progress in a few months in order to produce a safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible. Although experiments are carried out rapidly compared to other vaccines, the speed was achieved by performing some of the steps at the same time instead of one after the other. All experiments have undergone all the usual strict trial and regulatory requirements so vaccine safety was never compromise.

There are many different COVID-19 vaccines in different stages of development. All use either the most advance vaccine technology or new methods used during previous pandemic.

Knowing the genetic code for the COVID 19 virus is very important in creating the vaccine. Some method uses the code itself while others insert part of the code into existing viruses.

Any of these methods begins in pre-clinical experiments using tissues or cells in the laboratory or animal studies. This stage looks at safety and the ability of the vaccine to produce an immune response. If this experiment is successful, the vaccine goes through different phases of test in humans.

Phase 1

The vaccine is given to a small number of healthy adult volunteers (approximately 20-100) to test if the vaccine is safe in humans and how will it affect them.

Phase 2

This experimental stage involves several hundred healthy volunteers within the target age group which the vaccine is to be given. The test is to check for the vaccines safety, effect and the maximum dose and schedule that is necessary.

Phase 3

This stage involves the vaccine being tested on hundreds or thousands of volunteers across different countries to assess its effectiveness under natural conditions. This experimental stage is a chance to detect rare side-effects that cannot be identified in phase 1 and 2.

What are vaccines for?

Vaccines are given to create the same effect that would happen after a normal infection, without causing the disease. It can develop a long lasting protection so if the person is exposed to the same foreign body the developed immunity from the vaccine will help the person fight and stop the spread of infection.

Are vaccines safe?

Vaccines need to be safe. Even though there are common mild side effects after having the vaccine such as fever, headache, chills, joint pain, pain on the injection site and generally feeling unwell. The risks from these side effects are much lower than the risk of death and serious complications from the COVID 19 virus.

Before any vaccines can be lawfully given to the population the manufacturers have to demonstrate that it is safe and effective. This is done through the 3 experimental stages discussed earlier. Any reaction reported by people who has been vaccinated is the same as the noted side effects during the experimental stages.

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine (Pfizer BioNTech/Moderna)

The Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines. They contain the genetic arrangement for the protein found outside of the COVID 19 virus. The virus uses this spike protein to attach its self on the cells of the infected person.

When the vaccine is injected into the body, the mRNA is absorbed by the person’s cells which then decode the information and produce the spike protein outside of the cell. This activates the person’s immune system to produce antibodies (body’s defenses) and activate the warrior cells (T-cells). This reaction prepares the body to respond to any future exposure by destroying the COVID 19 virus.

There is no whole or live virus in the vaccine so it cannot cause the disease.

AstraZeneca and Sinovac COVID 19 vaccine

The AstraZeneca and Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine is a viral vector vaccine. It uses a weakened and inactivated virus as a carrier to deliver the genetic arrangement for the COVID 19 spike protein. Once the vaccine is injected the weakened and inactivated virus attached itself into the cells and delivers the genetic code (mRNA) for the spike protein. This then activates the formation of the body’s defense system (antibodies and T-cells) allowing the body to respond rapidly to any future exposure to the COVID 19 virus.

The virus has been altered so that it cannot make copy of itself in human cells and therefore cannot cause any disease. Once the genetic code is delivered the altered virus is destroyed by the body.