Health Beat
P “lease don’t underestimate the virus.” That’s the plaintive call from health leaders nationwide. We just saw the largest number of airline travelers since March and the impact of that on cases of coronavirus is still being determined. We now have Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanza celebrations in our sights. All this is playing out against the backdrop of two vaccine candidates about to be rolled out, one by Pfizer, the other crafted by Moderna. Both require two doses. The Pfizer dosing is 21 days apart. The Moderna vaccine shots would be given a month apart. Results from the phase 3 clinical trials of each show the efficacy at around 95%. Both use MRNA technology to provide the protection. This is how that technology works: The codes for the spike proteins in the SARSCOV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, are isolated, and fragments of the MRNA are copied. Those fragments are used by our cells to make proteins. Then, that material is ‘packaged’ and injected. The MRNA is ‘read’ by our cells, which then make copies of the spike protein. While those copies cannot cause harm, they’ll trigger your body to make antibodies against the virus, protecting against infection. Despite the technology, at the heart of these vaccines is the same: you can’t mix them. So, which vaccine will you be able to get? That’s still being worked out, but location will play a role. Operation Warp Speed officials recently announced they've allocated 6.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to states based on their total populations. Keep in mind: Even when vaccinations begin, we’ll still have to take precautions against infection, because it will take some time before enough of us have immunity – the herd immunity you hear about. It’s estimated that 70% of the population needs to be immune to achieve that. So don’t ditch the mask and keep the hand sanitizer handy. In short, don’t let COVID-19 fatigue lead you astray.
Benita Zahn, Dps-bioethics
518 -207- 4820 / Bzahn@wnyt.com Facebook.com/ benitazahn Instagram.com/ benitatv13
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