Rapid development of COVID vaccines encourages some researchers while upsetting others

More than a Shot in the Dark

On the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown, nearly 60 Covid-19 vaccines were being developed, three were being administered on a mass basis and one more was close to FDA approval. Yet another option had been removed from consideration in the US, because it was not considered effective against newly developing strains of the virus.

In light of the usual lengthy process of garnering FDA approval, the speed with which some vaccines have already been given to a large segment of the US population – through an emergency use approval -- is astonishing. While the idea of conferring immunity on people and allowing normal life to resume are causes for elation, some medical professionals are worried about side effects.

A presentation by Latinos in Clinical Research explained the differences between the vaccines available and offered the perspectives of two doctors on whether the vaccines should be mandatory. Some vaccines are using new technology, while others are being manufactured the same way as previous generations of vaccines.

Traditional vaccines use inactivated viruses or laboratory-manufactured Covid-19 protein to stimulate the immune response. They rely on old and tested technology that has been used for the past 50 years for numerous diseases. Possible downsides include insufficient inactivation of the virus, meaning that the virus can still replicate in the subject’s body and side effects can happen because of the chemicals used to inactivate the virus or because of the various adjuvants used to enhance the body’s reaction to the viral protein.

Other vaccines utilize a new technology that makes the subject’s own body produce the Covid-19 protein that then stimulates the subject’s immune system to produce the neutralizing antibodies. These COVID-19 vaccines work with RNA or DNA that instructs human cells to make the COVID-spike protein when this genetic material is injected into the body. This approach has not been used previously in the production of vaccines for a mass inoculation campaign.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines instruct cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. The mRNA vaccines are less expensive, easier and faster to develop, and in theory, scale up more easily than traditional vaccines, because older vaccine technologies rely on growing the virus or the proteins in the lab.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA) that codes for the Covid-19 spike protein. This is put into minute phospholipid capsules, which are injected into the subject. The capsules circulate in the blood and slip into certain cells in the body where the mRNA tells the ribosomes of the cells to produce the Covid-19 spike protein. Some spike protein molecules squeeze out from the cells into the bloodstream. They alert the immune system, which then produces antibodies against these spike proteins. The spike proteins coming out of the “infected” cells also trigger lymphocytes to attack and kill these cells.

While these modern vaccines may be more effective than the traditional ones because they induce more cell-mediated response, they also destroy cells. If they destroy some good kinds of cells, they will not be able to regenerate. If they excite the immune system too much, they could cause autoimmune diseases later on.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single-dose adenovirus-based vaccine. The viral vector vaccine uses a weakened live pathogen (adenovirus) as the delivery method (vector) for transporting a recombinant vaccine for COVID-19.

Recombinant vaccines use a small piece of genetic material from the virus to stimulate an immune response. This genetic material for COVID-19 does not replicate in the body. A specific piece of the virus can be targeted, and recombinant vaccines are common and generally safe to use in a large population of people.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines convert the Covid-19 code into DNA, which is more stable and does not require ultra-cold storage. They insert this DNA into modified Adenoviruses which are cannot replicate in the subject’s body but which can deliver the DNA code to the subject’s cells. While these vaccines will not affect nerve and kidney cells, they may infect respiratory tissues and need to enter the nucleus of the subject’s cell to produce the messenger RNA that can tell the subject’s ribosomes to produce the spike protein. This could interact with other genes in the genome to cause health problems.

Traditional vaccines – including CoronaVac, the Zhifei vaccine and Novavax – use  Covid-19 virus proteins that can be injected into the subject’s body. Some researchers believe that using trusted methodology makes more sense, while others are not troubled by deploying the new RNA and DNA vaccines on a global scale before checking carefully that they do not cause unexpected negative effects in the future.

Two California doctors, Ghassan Al-Jazayrly, M.D., and Sabine Hazan, M.D., debated the safety of the vaccines. Dr. Al-Jazayrly believes that everyone should have the vaccine, especially people who are older or immunocompromised. He believes that most people want the vaccine as well and that it is not possible to catch COVID-19 from the vaccination. Some people may need a booster for the vaccine after a certain period of time. If a person gets the virus, he or she should wait 8 to 12 weeks to get the vaccine, which then acts as a booster, because the person has antibodies.

Dr. Hazan said that the vaccines set an all-time speed record for clinical trials. She claimed that lots of scientists and clinical researchers are baffled and that the research has to be challenged before putting the vaccine on the market. She said there needs to be better documentation for side effects, focus on both prevention and treatment and representation from all sides of the science. She believes that clinicians should pay attention to the microbiome and not treat everyone the same way. While she said that 5 percent of the people vaccinated get COVID-19, she acknowledged that the vaccine calms down anxiety for the elderly and helps to reopen society.

Only time will tell whether the vaccines will produce side effects or require people to take booster shots.