INFOVAX: A dose of truth

 

Many people are unconvinced about the Covid-19 vaccines. Some think that we are all guinea pigs who pharmaceutical companies are testing the vaccines on. Some think that we will get cancer and other long-term side-effects of the vaccines in a few years. Some think that the vaccines are so dangerous that you may die from getting them. Many are wary about taking the vaccines; and we are just a few weeks away from getting the first batches of vaccines into Malaysia to be used.

Why do we care? For vaccination to work, most people need to be vaccinated. But in order for them to be vaccinated, they need to be convinced. Convinced that these vaccines are safe, effective and by all of us using them together, we can be freed of this horror which has plagued us for the past year and more. This is what the Infovax series is about: giving you, the Malaysian reader validated scientific truths about the Covid-19 vaccines.

This is legitimate information from legitimate sources on all parts of the vaccine landscape for you to be able to read and understand. This is not news coming through unknown WhatsApp videos and false Facebook accounts. This is genuine information which will be available for you right here in the mainstream media. Additionally, what this series will also do is research, and reply to any and all questions you may have; so that we can get at the truth, together.

In this kick-off segment, please allow me to address one of the first issues we seem to be concerned about in terms of the Covid-19 vaccines: Do they work?

Well, Covid-19 vaccines being used so far show that they are working. But it is important to understand what is it that are working to do.

Vaccines usually work by doing one of two things: they work by i) stopping you from getting infected; or ii) stop you from getting symptomatic or severe disease. When a vaccine works at stopping you from getting infected, it means that it is giving you sterilising immunity.

For vaccination to work, most people need to be vaccinated. (AP pic)

Sterilising immunity means that upon vaccination, a particular type of antibody known as a neutralising antibody forms. These neutralising antibodies completely block an invading virus form even entering cells and prevents any kind of replication. So the virus cannot even gain a foothold in the body. However, in order for neutralising antibodies to be formed, the viral components or the weakened virus within the vaccine which is given to you must be exactly the same as virus which may infect you in the future. Only then can neutralising antibodies be formed. So these kind of vaccines stop you from getting infected at all.

In viruses such as rotavirus (causing diarrhoea in children) and the influenza virus (which causes the flu), vaccines against these viruses do not generate neutralising antibodies when individuals are vaccinated. Rather, they induce protection via the many other cells of the immune system including causing the formation of non-neutralising antibodies and cytotoxic T cells (the body’s own killer cells that kill cells infected with a virus). So these type of vaccines do not stop the virus from getting into the body, but prevents it from growing in large numbers; and actively induces the immune system to attack and kill the virus. As such, these vaccines do not stop you from getting infected, but ensure that if and when you do get infected, you do not get symptomatic or severe disease.

Now, the Covid-19 vaccines available thus far are not vaccines that are going to stop you from getting infected. At present, the data shows that they are vaccines that will stop you from getting symptomatic or severe disease.

Well, does this mean that they work? Yes, and we know this from the example of rotavirus vaccines. Despite this being a vaccine which stops you from getting symptomatic or severe disease, once it is widely used, there has been close to a 90% reduction in hospitalisation from rotavirus infections. So, it is effective.

We are getting similar reports of communities in the US and certain countries which are already showing such reductions in terms of numbers of Covid-19 cases with widespread vaccination….so the ‘on-the-ground’ evidence seems to reflect this positive findings of the Covid-19 vaccines as well.

Next up: Are the Covid-19 vaccines safe?

INFOVAX is a community education and awareness series on Covid-19 vaccines brought to you by the Malaysian Medical Association Public Health Society (MMA PHS). Feel free to ask questions and clear your doubts about Covid-19 vaccines by putting them to us at infovax21@gmail.com. Your questions and answers will be collated and answered in the following sessions. -FMT