Blog by Gabe Dara, NU ’24.
As the infection rates of the COVID 19 virus continue to surge in many regions of the United States, anticipation for the much awaited COVID 19 vaccine also continues to rise in a like manner. A vaccine would help inoculate people against the virus, building immunity for it in the process. By introducing a vaccine into the internal ecosystem of the human body, antibodies are produced for the specific virus, thus preventing further infection. In other words, the body adapts to eliminate the COVID-19 contagion in the event of an infection. A COVID 19 vaccine would be a quintessential solution to many health and societal problems we’ve witnessed during this pandemic. Not only would it help save thousands of lives, but it would also help accelerate economic recovery and maybe help get us back to our “normal” (pre-COVID) lifestyles.
At the time of this post there are currently two candidates showing promising vaccine results: Pfizer pharmaceuticals working alongside bioNTech, and Moderna working in conjunction with NIAD. These two groups have both developed COVID vaccines using mRNA technology. This means that they use genetic information to trigger an immune response rather than the industry standard of using viral technology for vaccines. Use of mRNA in vaccine development was stated by both candidates to be cheaper and faster, contributing to its higher production efficacy when compared to virus based vaccines.
One caveat though, is that while the vaccine is easier to make, it has also never been done before. If the FDA should approve the distribution of these vaccines it would be a first in medical history for an mRNA-based vaccine to be mass-distributed. I’m all for it, if that means more people would have immediate access to this treatment. This seems to be the case as both vaccines are scheduled to complete clinical trials later this month. As the director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases says, “We should have a vaccine by the end of December.”
Although this may all seem like good news, it is important to keep in mind that a vaccine is not some master fix. It isn’t magic. While the Pfizer group claims that their vaccine is ninety percent effective, no such data was presented in the original publication and it is likely that this figure was derived from a small sample group and may not be as efficient when tested with high-risk patients. On the other hand, if it does work, treated patients continue to produce antibodies several months after treatment. These antibodies though, do not guarantee no reinfection but it is presumed to reduce the likelihood of reinfection.
It is also unlikely that life would return to normal immediately, due to the lengthy amount of time that’s required for the vaccine distribution and for immunity to be built on a national and global scale.
Although the reality of a vaccine may not be what we were all led to dream of, due to the current world situation, it definitely does make our current pandemic scenario a little bit brighter as it takes us closer to the end of this crisis.
That is definitely a fact.
Gabe Dara is a member of the Class of 2024, majoring in Neuroscience. He joined GlobeMed at the beginning of his freshman year, and he looks forward to continuing his active involvement in the next three years.