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PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have been assured that the Covid-19 vaccine, developed using the mRNA technique (messenger RNA), is safe.
Dr. Lim Kue Peng, who heads the immunology and immunotherapy unit at Cancer Research Malaysia, said it does not contain live viruses and as it has been approved for use, it will not alter human DNA.
She said the vaccine, when injected into the system, “instructs” the body to produce the harmless spike protein (Protein S) that will stick to the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
Since protein S is generally not found in the human body, the immune system will immediately recognize it as a foreign body, causing it to produce antibodies to destroy protein S and, with it, the coronavirus.
As an Israeli health expert once put it in layman’s terms, it is like inserting a USB drive (the mRNA vaccine) into the computer (the body) so that the hard drive runs a specific program.
Lim was responding to fears that the Covid-19 vaccine could cause unexpected side effects.
These fears and concerns have been expressed openly and widely on social media.
For many, the doubts are not unfounded. One concern is the speed at which it has developed.
By comparison, it took five years before a viable Ebola vaccine was available, by which time the outbreak, concentrated in West Africa, had disappeared.
An AIDS vaccine remains elusive, six decades after the first human HIV-1 infection was reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lim said concerns about long-term risks, as highlighted by international health experts, have not been proven, as studies have not yet been conducted.
His biggest concern, he said, is the possibility that those who have already taken the vaccine assume they are immune to Covid-19.
“Every person’s immune system reacts differently to vaccines and we don’t know if their antibodies are good enough to fight coronavirus,” he said, underscoring the fact that continued adherence to standard operating procedures to slow the spread of the virus. Covid-19 is still essential.
Pediatricians, Dr. Musa Mohd Nordin and Dr. Husna Musa, expressed concern that the extremely low temperature at which the vaccine should be stored would pose a logistical problem.
“Another concern is the lack of long-term safety data, given that it has only been nine months since the first cases of Covid-19 were reported,” they said in an email to the media.
They said another unanswered question is whether the vaccine would actually prevent the transmission of the coronavirus or simply prevent people from getting sick after becoming infected.
“Finally, will the vaccine elicit a sufficiently protective immune response and how long will it last?”
On November 30, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the first shipment of the vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will arrive in Malaysia in the first quarter of 2021.
He said Malaysian universities and research institutes have the facilities to store the vaccines at ultra-low temperatures as needed.
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