VACCINATION - CAN THE COVID VACCINE GIVE ME COVID-19?

 VACCINATION

There's a lot of excitement right now around the record speed vaccines for covid- 19  some of which are already starting distribution in parts of the world but given that these aremRNA vaccines a relatively new technology that has not been widely used before we wanted to explain how they work and what happens to your body from the moment that needle touches your skin like the vaccines, we're used to seeing these vaccines will be injected into the upper muscle of your arm but unlike typical vaccines that introduce inactive or weakened forms of a virus will release genetic material called messenger RNA so what exactly does this mean to do well? in a regular cell of your body, you have DNA inside of the nucleus and this DNA stores all the information and instructions important to the functioning of your cells your body and ultimately makes you inside your cell is machinery that reads through your DNA and transcribes it into mRNA which then leaves the nucleus and goes into your cytoplasm and it's here that the ribosomes in your cells read the RNA and depending on the specific code build a series of amino acids that fold in on themselves to make proteins that keep you alive and functioning this process is known as translation in the fact it's this the process that viruses take advantage of in the first place, they insert their own genetic information into you and then your cell machinery unwittingly starts taking that information and building proteins to help create more viruses so back to the needle the mRNA that is being injected into you from the vaccine also carries genetic instructions but in this case, it's only coding for one small part of the virus instead of the whole the thing you've probably seen sars cov2 represented like this with the spikes on it and it's this spike protein which on its own is harmless that the vaccine's mRNA codes for the mRNA makes its way into the cytoplasm of your cells where the ribosomes read the information and start to create the spike proteins once the protein is made it goes to the cell membrane and then your cell breaks down and destroys the injected mRNA instructions so what good does having a tiny fragment of the viral spike in your body does what gives your body and more importantly your immune system a preview of what the virus looks like without causing disease suddenly your antibodies will notice it and go well this doesn't belong here which triggers an immune response to recognize and prepare your body for the real thing without ever having to come in contact with the actual virus itself your immune system essentially gets a head start by creating powerful antibodies that can neutralize and kill the real virus and this antibody memory is stored in your B cells so that if you are ever infected in the future with the tsar cov2 virus, your body now has the upper hand this is known as an adaptive immune response your body has already seen these spike proteins before and therefore it already knows what to do essentially these mRNA vaccines allow your body to protect itself from a future infection without ever having to risk the consequences of getting the disease covid19 so why haven't mRNA vaccines have been used before while they are relatively new researchers have been experimenting with them for decades but in the past, they've been very unstable enzymes in your the body would break down the man quickly so they needed to be packaged well the ones being released now have the mRNA encased in lipid nanoparticles which essentially protect the mRNA from being degraded since they're more unstable than other types of vaccines they have to be kept cold for example the Pfizer vaccine has to be stored at minus 70 degrees celsius and at normal refrigerated temperatures can only last five days, of course, a global pandemic has certainly increased the funding and resources going towards these types of vaccines which have helped to accelerate their development what makes these vaccines so appealing is that unlike other vaccines they can be made in a lab with readily available materials and made much quicker than other types of vaccines instead of fully developing non-infectious viruses and then injecting them these mRNA vaccines can sort of pass many hurdles by using your own body in an ingenious way it's also far more cost-effective to create mRNA molecules rather than the proteins themselves and also a lot more scalable which is helpful when we are in a global pandemic waiting for a vaccine so is it safe and given that it's a relatively new technology should you be concerned at all well that's what these initial trial stages have been for not only to test whether or not they work and cause immunity but to make sure they have minimal side effects as of now around 70000 people have been given these vaccines with no serious concerns a caveat being that the full research hasn't been published yet, but it's important to remember that just because it's safe doesn't mean there won't be any soreness or pain some recipients did report aches and pains and as of now you'll need to receive two shots to ensure efficacy. 

POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS OF COVID VACCINE

Several coronavirus vaccines have now been approved for use, either by individual countries, or the EU and WHO. There are currently more than 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials. Currently, two vaccines are authorized and recommended for COVID-19:

• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

• Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

As of December 28, 2020, large-scale Phase 3 clinical trials are in progress for three

 COVID-19 vaccines in the United States:

• AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

• Johnsen’s COVID-19 vaccine

• Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19, without us having to get the illness. Different types of vaccines work in different ways to offer protection, but with all types of vaccines, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and antibodies that will remember how to fight that virus in the future. It typically takes a few weeks for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes after vaccination. Sometimes after vaccination, the process of building immunity can cause symptoms, such as fever, muscle pain, fatigue, etc. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity. So, it’s very important that you understand the minor side-effects of Covid vaccine and also we will discuss some of the rare but serious complications that can occur. 

The most common side effects that you can experience after COVID-19 Vaccine includes:

• injection site pain 

• tiredness 

• headache

• muscle pain 

• chills, swollen lymph nodes 

• joint pain 

• fever 

• injection site swelling 

• injection site redness and nausea

These are known as minor or expected side effects of a vaccine and they can occur not just after the Covid vaccine but in fact after most of the vaccines that you receive. These side effects occur because your body is adapting to the vaccine. Vaccines work by introducing a small number of bacteria, viruses, or toxins into the body. Because the bacteria, virus, or toxin have been killed or weakened, there's no risk of contracting the disease in question. However, your body responds as if it were under attack, and mounts an immune response. If
in the future, you do encounter that disease, you'll have an army of cells and antibodies ready to fight it. This means that any adverse effects you experience are unlikely to be caused by bacteria, viruses, or toxins. Most of the common side effects such as a sore arm, redness, and fever are caused by the injection, or by your own immune system fighting against the weakened invaders.

What are the chances of serious side effects?

The vaccine can cause a severe allergic reaction. A severe allergic reaction would usually occur within a few minutes to one hour after getting a dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine. For this reason, your vaccination provider may ask you to stay at the place where you received your vaccine for monitoring after vaccination.

Signs of a severe allergic reaction can include:

• Difficulty breathing 

• Swelling of your face and throat

• A fast heartbeat

• A skin rash all over your body 

• Dizziness and weakness

 

CAN THE COVID VACCINE GIVE ME COVID-19?

The simple answer to this question is a “BIG NO”. None of the COVID-19 Vaccines contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so it is not possible that you can CONTRACT covid-19 from the covid vaccine.