What is trending now? Covid-19 VACCINES,

 Malaysians' acceptance of Covid-19 vaccination. Source: Health Ministry's survey, 21 - 28 Dec, 2020.

    TO BE or NOT TO BE vaccinated? Firstly, we need not agonise over which vaccine to take as this will be decided by the governments of each country. We CANNOT hand pick the vaccine, but we CAN choose if we want to be vaccinated as no country has made vaccination mandatory.

    Some facts on WHO listed Covid-19 vaccines minus the scientific jargon:

     1. IMMUNITY: Vaccines trigger our immune system to produce antibodies and protect us against covid-19. After vaccination, our immune system is able to recognise Covid-19 when we become expose to it, and keep us from getting sick. BUT, becos’ these vaccines are so new, we have NO data on how long this immunity will last. Months or years? Do we need revaccination? Current studies also measured whether vaccinated people develop symptoms NOT if they get infected, thus the trials did not take into account if Covid-19 vaccines can PREVENT asymptomatic infections (i.e. a vaccinated person can still become infected, show NO symptoms and spread the virus in the community).

     2. VACCINE: 

     We CANNOT get covid-19 from the vaccines as NONE of the vaccines are LIVE vaccines.  Pfizer-BioNTech  (US/Germany)and Moderna (US/Switzerland) use a mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) - based technology that has Never been used before. mRNA is entirely different from our DNA which is the blueprint of life. The covid-19 mRNA injected directs our cells to produce a viral protein that will trigger our immune system. Human cells then break down the mRNA, thus the mRNA CANNOT interact or change our DNA.     The reported severe allergic reactions that have been associated with these two vaccines are due to a molecule (PEG) present in the vaccine. PEG is also present in our daily goods like toothpaste and shampoos. About 72% of individuals have at least some antibodies against PEG according to a 2016 study. About 7% have a level that may be high enough to cause them to have potentially life-threatening allergic reactions. Singapore's PM receiving his first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, 8 January. 

     Thus, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are NOT recommended for people with a history of severe reactions to previous other vaccines. If you are not sure, stay for 30mins at the vaccination site (I will definitely be doing this).  Both vaccines are about 95% effective after 2 full doses (21 days apart) in preventing symptomatic covid-19 infections. The minus point of these two vaccines is storage requires very low temperatures at -70⁰C in expensive (RM70 - 80,000) ultra-low freezers. Cost of  Pfizer-BioNTech: USD20/dose; Moderna: USD50/2 doses. Countries using: US, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia.

Vaccination trial run in New Delhi.

     AstraZeneca (UK/India) has been selected by India which has the world’s second highest number of cases, >10.2 million. It uses an established viral-vector (carrier) technology, example same as in the hepatitis B vaccine (Ad-HBV). This technology introduces a different genetically modified virus (adenovirus) as a carrier  to produce covid-19 proteins to trigger our immune system. AstraZeneca is 70% (62-90%) effective. The plus point of this vaccine is it can be stored in the refrigerator at 4⁰ C which makes vaccination in rural communities feasible. Thus, it is not surprising that  Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation has recommended

Pfizer-BioNTech for urban areas, and AstraZenerca for rural populations. Cost: USD3/dose. Countries using: Emergency use in UK, Australia, Vietnam, India.

Indonesian football supporters in support of vaccination, Solo, Central Java. 

    CoronaVac (China) is Indonesia's choice with a confirmed order of three million doses. Indonesia has the worst covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia. CoronaVac is an inactivated viral vaccine. This means that an inactive and safe form of covid-19 is introduced into our bodies to trigger our immune system. CoronaVac  has more than 50% efficiency. Storage is at 4⁰ C. Cost: USD50/2 doses. Countries using: Indonesia, Malaysia (negotiating), 

    Sputnik V (Russia) is a viral vector vaccine where the covid-19 gene coding for the S spike protein is inserted into the adenovirus carrier. It has a 92% efficiency and 2 doses must be taken. Storage at 4⁰ C. Cost: USD10/dose. Countries using: Vietnam, Laos, Algeria, Bolivia, Malaysia (negotiating).

    Even though ten vaccines have been listed by WHO for current use, none of the  Covid 19 vaccines have been officially certified for safety or effectiveness. 

    Will the current vaccines work against the new covid-19 variants?

     “Vaccines are still useful as viruses mutate constantly, but typically not in the ways that would render a vaccine useless,” Dr. Schaffner, an advisor to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. So, these current vaccines will NOT be totally ineffective. But four new covid-19 strains have already emerged. WHO states that covid-19 is a disease that will be continuously present in the population. Thus, I think, like the flu vaccine, new updated covid-19 vaccines will have to be produced continuously to keep up with the variants.

    What is Herd Immunity? HELP, I AM depending on this situation to avoid vaccination.

    When the majority a population has been vaccinated and becomes immune to a particular disease, even those who are not immune are considered protected because the likelihood of an outbreak is low. Herd immunity has been achieved in diseases like chickenpox, measles, polio and mumps as a result of mandatory vaccination in children. Alas, WHO issued a statement, "We are NOT going to achieve herd immunity in 2021," even with worldwide mass vaccination. Damn it! Sorry but I am angry!

For those of you who, like me, are still undecided about vaccination, I recommend you to take the above vaccination cookies, and as 

NO VACCINE is 100% EFFECTIVE, JUST STAY HOME.

  

"Sir, where are you going?" "Buy shampoo."

This is what I will do when the time comes to vaccinate. Watch, it could be YOU too.

Acknowledgements to The Star newspaper, Reuters, Associated Press News, Agence France-Presse, The Straits Times.