The COVID-19 vaccine has been a topic of controversy ever since its unveiling. Many refuse to be vaccinated for a multitude of reasons. However, it is entirely safe and should be taken to reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill or endangering the lives of others. But how does it work?
Understanding how a virus functions in the body is critical to understanding the vaccine. Knowing how people become infected is monumental in developing any immunization and how it reduces the risk of infection. Viruses are just little packages of DNA or RNA, which tell the body how to grow cells. These enter into existing healthy cells and leave their code embedded in them. Then the newly infected cells begin making more of the virus instead of the cell they were initially designed to make. This is how the body becomes infected, and the person becomes sick.
Next, it is imperative to understand how the human body fights a virus and how vaccines assist in that process. First, the body makes cells whose sole purpose is to fight infection. Three different cells are designed to do this, each with its unique purpose. The three cells are called Macrophages, B-Lymphocytes, and T-Lymphocytes. Macrophages are white blood cells that eat germs and dead or dying cells. However, they leave behind small pieces of the germ or cell. These small pieces that are left behind are called antigens. B-Lymphocytes are also white blood cells. They create antibodies that attack antigens left over by the Macrophages. The last cell is the T-Lymphocyte; these white blood cells identify and attack infected cells to prevent them from spreading the virus further in the body.
The COVID-19 Vaccine
Both Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines that give cells the instruction to create a harmless protein unique to COVID. The human body then recognizes that the protein should not remain in the body so, it attacks it and produces antibodies to defend against it. This way, the body will remember how to fight COVID should an infection ever occur.
The Johnson and Johnson, however, is a vector vaccine. These function by adding a small amount of the contagion that causes the COVID-19 into the shell of another modified virus. When this enters the body, it gives the cells instructions to make a protein unique to COVID. The result is the same as the mRNA vaccine; the body learns to fight the protein and is better prepared to combat COVID.
Finally, the reason the COVID vaccine requires two doses can be explained. First, requiring multiple doses is nothing new. Hepatitis, measles, and shingles immunizations all require two or more doses. The reason for this is that the first dose begins the body’s process of protecting itself, and the second dose heavily reinforces that protection. In the clinical trials for both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the effectiveness was observed to jump from around 50-90% after the second dose.
The COVID-19 vaccine is safe and is backed by stacks of evidence. It is unbelievably important to be immunized to protect oneself and others. It aids the body in the fight against the deadly virus. The pandemic will only end after the vast majority of the population is immune. Therefore, everyone should be immunized.
Written by Joseph Nelson
Sources:
CDC: Understanding How COVID-19 Vaccines Work
HEALTHLINE: Why Do You Need Two Doses for Some COVID-19 Vaccines?
National Center for Biotechnology Information: How Infection Works
Featured Image Courtesy of Asian Development Bank’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of NIAID’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
