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How do we know there won’t be a long-term side?-effects?
“The concerted efforts to develop a vaccine are wonderful, but they cannot possibly know the long-term adverse effects. I will have it if offered to me and at my age the long-term effects are irrelevant. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be a thalidomide of the last days. ” Jenny Walters, Retired Teacher, Ashburton
The vaccines are licensed based on data from clinical trials, the goal of which is to assess their short-term safety, their ability to elicit an immune response, and their ability to prevent disease in hundreds and then thousands of volunteers. So far, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been given to more than 43,538 people, the first of whom received the vaccine in April or May. So far, it seems to be well tolerated.
It is also important to note that most adverse events occur shortly after receiving a vaccine, rather than after many months or years, said Professor Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London.
Since it is a completely new type of vaccine, it is not impossible for someone to be allergic to a component of it, said Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. However, this would appear shortly after the administration of the vaccine.
Even once a vaccine is licensed, scientists will continue to monitor its safety to identify any rare side effects that clinical trials have not detected – for example, because they did not include people with underlying vulnerabilities. Essentially, healthcare workers are trained to report any adverse event that concerns them or the parent of a vaccinated child, regardless of whether they believe the vaccine triggered it. And they are told to be particularly vigilant in the case of newly introduced vaccines. If an adverse event is reported, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will carefully investigate whether it is likely to be a coincidence or a result of the vaccine, and will intervene when necessary, for example by issuing warnings not to administer the vaccine. to certain groups, or even withdraw the vaccine in rare circumstances.
“If you’re targeting 10 million people, you can never rule out that there won’t be someone who can respond abnormally,” Shattock said. “I think people have to make a judgment, because if you have some underlying health condition that no one predicted, that might give you a worse response to the vaccine, it will probably give you a much worse response to the real virus.”
Will the vaccine be safe for people with underlying medical conditions?
“I am very relieved and excited at the prospect of being protected against Covid and that life returns to a kind of normalcy. I also feel a certain apprehension; How might my body react to heart problems and an autoimmune disorder? ” Trudie, Tunbridge Wells
People with underlying health problems are likely to be monitored particularly closely once any vaccine is approved and implemented. Additionally, if there is any reason to suspect that a certain population might be adversely affected by a vaccine, regulators may request that a sub-study be performed to assess safety in this group, before allowing it to be administered more widely to people with this condition. . .
Fast guide
Who in the UK will get the new Covid-19 vaccine first?
The UK government’s joint committee on vaccination and immunization has published a list of groups of people who will be given priority to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The list is:
1. Everyone over 80 years of age and health and social workers.
2. All those 75 years of age or older.
3. All those aged 70 or over.
4. Everyone over 65 years of age.
5. Adults under 65 years of age at high risk of serious illness and mortality from Covid-19.
6. Adults under 65 years of age at moderate risk of severe illness and mortality from Covid-19.
7. All those aged 60 and over.
8. All those 55 and over.
9. All those of 50 years or more.
10. Rest of the population
How long does the RNA in the vaccine last and could it damage our cells?
“The vaccine contains messenger RNA, which causes cells to produce spike proteins, but does this process shut down or continue indefinitely? What are the target cells and does it damage them? ” Elizabeth, Shropshire
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine uses a piece of genetic code, called messenger RNA (mRNA), to send instructions to the protein-making machinery in our cells to make viral proteins. The vaccine is injected into the muscle of the shoulder, so the mRNA will mainly enter muscle cells, but probably some immune cells as well. “I think people worry when they hear the term ‘genetic material’, but the really great thing about RNA is that it breaks down very quickly; in a cell, it will stay around 72 hours, ”Shattock said. “And it doesn’t get to the nucleus where your chromosomes are, so there’s no chance that it can change your genes.”
Once manufactured, viral proteins are displayed on the surface of cells, where circulating immune cells will detect them and generate an immune response against them.
Will this vaccine really allow us to return to normality and in what time frame?
“The government only ensured enough doses to vaccinate 5 million people, 7.5% of the UK population. Over time, it is possible that we will vaccinate approximately 30% of the population. This is not enough to return to normal, because two out of three people will continue to be susceptible to Covid-19. ” Olga, Manchester
Even with a vaccine, society is unlikely to return to normal overnight. “It’s going to be a gradual process, and my estimate is that it will take at least until the summer for some degree of normalcy to return,” Shattock said.
Furthermore, while the government’s full vaccination strategy has yet to be revealed, it is unlikely that it will attempt to vaccinate the entire UK population, at least for now. Rather, your strategy may be more like flu vaccination, prioritizing older people and people with underlying conditions that make them highly vulnerable. About 10 million people fall into these categories, Shattock said: “As more and more people are vaccinated, we may find that maybe we can start to get back to normal because there will be fewer people with serious illnesses, fewer people who need to be in intensive care, and since there are fewer, those who end up there will receive better quality care. “
Does it make any sense to get vaccinated if you have already had Covid?
“I had Covid-19 six weeks ago, so I may or may not be immune. I have no idea if it makes any sense to get vaccinated. ” Bill Dixon, retired physics professor, Madrid.
Until now, vaccine trials have focused on people who have not been exposed to the coronavirus, so the effect of vaccination on people who have been exposed is unclear. However, since immunity to the virus appears to decrease over time, it is probably worth getting vaccinated. “The level of immunity to natural infection is really variable, so some people get a very strong immune response and some people have a fairly weak immune response,” Shattock said. “The vaccine would boost their immune response and hopefully provide protection for a longer time.”
Even after people have been vaccinated, they may need additional booster doses to keep their immunity full.
Where is the infrastructure needed to transport it and store it at the right temperature?
“When I was working in general practice we had a problem with the storage of conventional vaccines, which must be kept refrigerated or they are inactivated and useless. The new vaccine should be kept below -70 ° C. How many doses will be wasted because we are not ready to handle them? ” Gavin, Bristol
Transporting, storing and administering this vaccine will not be easy, but the infrastructure is being installed. Pfizer is reported to have designed shipping containers the size of a suitcase, capable of holding between 1,000 and 5,000 doses at the required temperature for up to ten days, while being transported to local or regional storage facilities, for example, in hospitals. From there, they are likely to be transferred to GP surgeries for immediate use – the vaccine remains viable for about 24 hours after it comes out of the freezer. Rather than undergoing a single surgery to administer a few vaccinations a day, surgery groups are likely to pool their resources and have a center that performs a large number of vaccinations over a very intense period, Shattock said.
Also, don’t forget that many other vaccines are in development, which will not require ultra-cold storage, so it is unlikely that we will rely solely on the Pfizer vaccine (assuming it is approved).
