I heard it again and again. Probably you did, too.
“It’s just a cold! The dangers are being overblown by the media.”
“When it’s my turn, I’ll be standing in line with bells on.”
“No way am I going to let them vaccinate me with something experimental.”
“Having the vaccine is essential so we can regain our way of life.”
Information (and misinformation) about COVID and the vaccine was everywhere. Some said it could be prevented with essential oils (didn’t work); others said the risk is reduced with vitamin D (possible); some said masks are ineffective (so not true); others say others said the CDC and Dr. Fauci didn’t know what they’re talking about (not even going to dignify this with an answer).
With the plethora of voices out there already, when I was asked to write a piece about vaccination, I was pretty reluctant. Yes, I do have degrees in virology, medical microbiology and immunology. All pretty relevant. And, as a pastor’s wife, I might be trusted by the Christian community (maybe). Nonetheless, I’m diving in—here’s my take on being vaccinated against COVID or the next virus.
If you haven’t the disease, vaccination is less risky than getting it.
Who of us is not aware of someone who got COVID and was hospitalized or even died? Okay, that’s what we call anecdotal evidence, which is building an argument on a person’s experience. Not scientific. So, let’s stop right there. Instead, we need to look at the statistics.
The risk of dying from COVID-19 varies by age, preexisting conditions, race, country, economic status, and more. It is difficult (impossible) to pin down a number because calculation requires knowing how many people had it—and over half are asymptomatic. The best that can be done is simply dividing the total deaths by the total confirmed cases. In the USA, at the time I wrote this (2021) according to CDC data, that got us to 1.6%. If you are young, healthy, and female, the risk is much lower; if you are elderly, infirm, and male, much higher.
The risk of dying from the COVID vaccine has not been calculated because the numbers are too small. Of course, it is infinitely less likely that you will die from the vaccine than from COVID.
What about the risk of being sick? Slightly less than half of people who get COVID actually suffer symptoms. Those may face two weeks or more of illness. According to the CDC, about 0.7% of people between 18 and 64 who get COVID end up in the hospital (in 2021).
Compare this to the risk of being sick after vaccination. Maybe a slight fever for a day, pain at the injection site. Even factoring in the risk of anaphylaxis, the vaccine is over a thousand times safer than the illness, especially if one factors in the risk of infecting someone more vulnerable than yourself. Those are good odds.
Why should I subject myself to something that is so new?
To assess just how risky mRNA vaccines are, we need to start with a bit of cell biology. After all, how many of us know what mRNA even is? If you are one of those, maybe this will help. Let’s use a city as an analogy for a person.
Cell Biology
A city has roadways, factories, waste management facilities, stores, office buildings, and more. All of these component parts specializing and working together make up the city. All of life is made of small units called cells. I think of them as tiny units that, by working together, each specializing in something, make up the body.
Now, let’s focus on one factory. Chances are that it has a head office, where the files are kept. Those files may contain the instructions for how to use, and maybe how to make, each machine, the records of the employees, and more. In the case of factories, the head office only contains the instructions for that particular place.
Our cells are different in that every one of our cells contains the entire instruction manual for us—written in DNA ink. The entire library of DNA is called our genome. The information contained in your genome would fill about 100 encyclopedias.
Back to the factory. Imagine that one of the machines isn’t working. The workers need to know how to fix it, but the instructions are in the files in head office. They put in a call and head office finds the relevant file, makes a photocopy and sends it to the factory floor. They do not of course send the original file. In cell terms, the part of the genome that gives instructions for one machine is a gene. The photocopy of one gene is called mRNA.
So, the photocopy of the instructions is sent to the factory floor, the machine is repaired, the instructions wadded up and thrown away, and it is back to business as usual. In the case of the cell, the machine is made of protein. The mRNA is a code telling the cell how to make protein machines. It’s also wadded up and thrown away—the half-life of mRNA is usually less than five minutes. The building work is done on the ribosomes, but those don’t come into this explanation.
To review:
Body = city
Cell = factory
Protein = machine
DNA = head office files
Gene = instructions for one machine
mRNA = photocopy of instructions for one machine
Virology
Now we know what mRNA is, how does a virus come into it? A virus is basically a nonliving hijacker. It rings the doorbell of the factory, shows a fake ID, gets ushered in and takes over. In cellular terms, the door is called a receptor. COVID enters via the door for ACE-2. The spikes on the surface of COVID-19 resemble ACE-2.
Once inside, the virus goes to head office and forces the infected cell to make copies of the viral genome. The cell also makes photocopies of those viral genes (mRNA) that give instructions for making the protein parts of the new viruses. Those proteins that will make up the coat of the new virus then make their way to the surface of the infected cell. The new viruses bud out, putting on their coat, complete with spikes, as they leave to infect more cells.
To review:
Virus = invader
Cellular receptor = door
Spike protein = ID badge
Immunology
Does the cell take all of this abuse lying down? No. Once infected, it’s a hopeless cause for that cell, but it can protect those around by alerting the body’s army: the immune system. Our immune cells are like the FBI, the CIA and the police force combined, constantly surveying our bodies for invaders. That’s great for bacteria like Strep. But viruses hide inside our own cells. No problem. The immune system also keeps a look out for any odd-looking cells, whether because of cancer or because of viral infection.
Remember how the cell makes the spike-containing viral coat and puts it on its surface? That is exactly what the immune system sees. The spike protein is kind of like an SOS flag. The immune system then responds in a number of ways.
First, the infected cell is given instructions on how to commit suicide. Either that or the immune system pokes a hole in the cell so that it deflates and dies. A messy business. Some of this is accomplished through antibodies, which are like targets put on the back of the enemy (or an infected cell).
It also puts out an alert, called interferon, to tell the big guy cells in the area to eat up anything suspicious. Interferons are why it is thought that a flu vaccine may provide temporary (and minuscule) protection from COVID. Better not to count on that.
Then, so that the immune system won’t be caught out again, it puts the shape of the invader on permanent record in memory cells. Those are specific to that particular virus and can be aroused in a matter of hours. When this happens, the person is immune. They may become infected, but the virus is obliterated before symptoms occur.
Now, all this takes time. The first time that the immune system “sees” an invader, it takes 7-10 days to put it all in place. In that time the patient can become very ill. Worse, if the immune system overreacts, the patient can experience a “cytokine storm” where the immune system basically loses it and really riles things up. One could think of cytokines are being cellular words (or shouts). This is why people often get worse in the second week.
To review:
Immune system = inner army
Spike protein on cell = SOS flag
Antibody = target on the back of an invader
Interferon = alert system
Memory cell = immune cells on the look out for a particular invader
Cytokine storm = the immune system shouting at everyone
Vaccinology
Is that even a word? Anyway, vaccines have been around for a long time—since 1796, in fact. Dr. Jenner noticed that milkmaids had nice skin because they didn’t get smallpox and hypothesized that it was because they got coxpox from the cows. So, he injected an 8-year-old ‘volunteer’ with coxpox and then exposed him to smallpox. The child stayed well. Very unethical, but effective.
The purpose of a vaccine is to trick the immune system into thinking the person had the disease, so that they won’t get it in the future. This can be accomplished by injecting the person with a look-alike (smallpox) or a pathogen that has been made less dangerous, which is called attenuated (used to be polio), or a totally inactive or killed pathogen (rabies) or a part of the pathogen (Hib). Of these, only those viruses that are still capable of infecting cells produce long-lasting immunity, because those are the ones that are shown to the immune system by SOS flags hoisted on infected cells. Until now.
Enter the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines. Those do not contain anything infectious—no look-alike virus, no attenuated virus, not even any dead virus. No chance of giving you an infection. These vaccines contain the instructions for making spike protein only.
The muscle (or other) cells near to the injection site take up the mRNA because it is coated with fat (fats can enter cells without going through a ‘door’). The cells then read the mRNA instructions, make viral spikes, display them on their surfaces, and destroy the mRNA. The immune system spots the SOS signals and blows those cells up. But, it also remembers the spikes in its memory cells. If in the future the person is exposed to COVID itself, the army is immediately mobilized. The virus does not stand a chance.
Ah, but what about the muscle and others cells that got blown up? Didn’t we need those? No problem. The body is very capable of making new ones. Remember also that the message from the vaccine cannot be copied and is very short-lived. Quite different from the mRNA generated, and the cells blown up, as a result of active infection—at least ten days.
To review: Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=the81FQoAUI&feature=youtu.be
Take-Home Message
Get the shot. It is way less dangerous than the disease. For you and for others.