What’s going on with all these Vaccines?
Currently, there is a pandemic going on known as COVID-19, and this article is written to help you better understand the disease with the vaccines and the Coronavirus as a whole.
The Coronavirus has without a doubt affected us all in different ways, and it has brought all of us different struggles from concerns regarding our health to restricted interactions with the people we care about whether that’s family, friends, or both. With all these struggles one way to settle the mind is by getting a better understanding of the situation as a whole. Starting, “the coronavirus is a family of viruses that cause respiratory illness” (“Coronavirus Disease 2019”). Some other examples that fit into this family of viruses would be Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The virus that is currently affecting our lives today is better described as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and it can result in the COVID-19. Keep in mind that COVID 19 can affect people in different ways from organ failure to no symptoms at all which is why extra caution should be taken to prevent the spread of both the virus and the disease.
Another part of crucial information would be the types of vaccines along with their benefits and downsides. There are many different types of vaccines but the scientific community has grouped them into four groups; live-attenuated Vaccines (LAV), Inactivated Vaccines, Subunit Vaccines, Recombinant Vaccines, Polysaccharide Vaccines, mRNA Vaccines, and Conjugate Vaccines. Below, there will be a further description of the echo of the different types of vaccines. All vaccines are produced on the belief that they can create Memory B cells, a part of your immune system, which would prevent the harsher effects of a virus or other form of the pathogen.
A LAV is a vaccine that is produced by humans in a laboratory-like all of the other vaccines, and the LAVs generally take longer to produce. These vaccines can be used to fight off both viruses and bacteria by producing a weaker version of a living virus or bacteria. They are very effective but those with a compromised immune system cannot receive these vaccines since the immune response would be different from the general population in a manner that could harm those with a compromised immune system. Another downside of LAVs is limited transportation because they have to be kept at a cold temperature. If it wasn’t obvious from the name, these vaccines would be considered alive if they were made to attack a bacteria or alive – ish. Viruses aren’t considered living or nonliving, but whatever LAV targeted at viruses would be considered part of that same middle ground. One example of this vaccine would be the chickenpox vaccine
Another large group of vaccines would be Inactivated Vaccines, which can fight off viruses and bacteria similar to the LAVs. However, these vaccines are considered “dead” since the process through which it is created is by “killing” the targeted pathogen but Inactive vaccines aren’t as strong at providing immunity which results in multiple doses necessary to maintain immunity (the multiple does occur over long periods, not all at once). Although there is the downside of multiple doses, one of the benefits of this type of vaccine is that it is considered more stable, therefore more safe than the LAV vaccine. An example of this form of vaccination would be the polio vaccine, which children are administered multiple times during their lifetime.
Next is the Toxoid vaccines, which try to reduce the effects of toxins produced by some bacteria so that the vaccine contains toxoids or weakened toxins so that the body can fight off the actual toxin if it comes in contact with the toxin targeted. While it is very safe and doesn’t cause the disease that is generally caused by the specific toxin, it does generally need multiple doses. Some examples of this would be the Tetanus vaccine.
Subunit vaccines, as the name suggests, are made up of parts of the pathogen rather than the whole pathogen which makes it “dead” (both LAV and inactivated vaccines use the entire pathogen making the process more time-consuming). They take the part of the pathogen that is causing the immune response the antigen in most cases) which results in fewer side effects but the process is taxing and requires the researchers to look into the different responses that occur from different parts of the pathogen. Also, it is always uncertain if this type of vaccine will produce Memory-B cells (the production of Memory-B cells through a vaccine is what prevents a more harsh response and is the point of vaccines) even if it can protect the body initially. Also, subunit vaccines can be mass-produced more quickly and if the specific part is identified quickly then the process is quite quick and runs smoothly because of the ease of this process.
The Subunit vaccines group can further be separated into the following groups: Recombinant vaccines, Polysaccharide vaccines, mRNA vaccines, and Conjugate vaccines. Each of these groups is named based on what part of the pathogen is utilized from the capsid covering to the protein produced by the pathogen (the protein or sugar produced can trigger the immune response which is why the vaccine is made to target those specific traits sometimes).
The recombinant vaccines can be split once again into live, protein, or DNA, and each of them still have the basic principle that “permit the avoidance of several potential concerns raised by vaccines based on purified macromolecules, such as the risk of co-purification of undesired contaminants or reversal of the toxoids to their toxigenic forms” (NIH).
The second subgroup, Polysaccharide vaccines, targets sugars that can create a capsid around pathogens (e.g. bacteria), which can aid the pathogen in avoiding the immune system. Hence, by targeting it, the bacteria can produce better defenses against the specific pathogen. Some downsides that go along with this would be short term immunity that is induced like many other vaccines in the Subunit vaccines subgroup.
Another subgroup of the Subunit vaccine is Conjugate vaccines, which, like the polysaccharide vaccines, attacks the capsid, but “they benefit from a technology that binds the polysaccharide to a carrier protein “(WHO). By doing so, it allows for these vaccines to also be effective for infants, unlike the Polysaccharide vaccine group.
The final subgroup is the mRNA vaccine, which utilizes the mRNA to help people develop the immunization process. The COVID-19 vaccine being produced today is currently utilizing this technology; according to the CDC. these vaccines “give instructions for our 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” (CDC). Essentially, by doing this, it would denature the protein early on and prevent the effects of COVID 19.
Leading companies that race towards producing a reliable vaccine in the United States are Moderna, Pfitzer, and BioNTech, which have all recently made mRNA vaccines with 95% effectivity/ Moderna and Pfitzer have already been emergency approved by the FDA, as of December 19th, 2020.
There are also benefits and downsides to the vaccines produced by these different corporations. ScienceNews states that Pfitzer and Biotech vaccines both have to be stored at temperatures around -70 ℃ (-94℉)m which would make mass distribution more troublesome. While Moderna also has to be kept at cool temperatures, it is to be stored at a higher temperature of 2 to 8 ℃ (36 – 48 ℉), which would make it much easier to transport in comparison.
As further information is released by both companies, some of this news is subject to change, so it is always good to stay updated and to cross-reference information to see any changes. As more corporations come out with vaccines, they might use different methods, and some vaccines might also receive FDA approval. Therefore, once again, it is best to stay updated with WHO, CDC, and the FDA to receive the proper information needed and to stay educated on the topic because while all of us are at home, it is optimal to grasp a better understanding of current events and how the pandemic is rapidly changing.
Author: Meera Rajagopal (LHS 11th Grade)
Works Cited
Center for Disease Control, et al. “Understanding How Vaccines Work .” Center of Disease Control, CDC, July 2018, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-office.pdf
Center for Disease Control. “Understanding MRNA COVID-19 Vaccines.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Nov. 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html.
“Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 24 Nov. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963.
Jesus, Erin Garcia de. “Moderna Says Its COVID-19 Vaccine Is Nearly 95 Percent Effective.” Science News, Science News, 16 Nov. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/moderna-vaccine-covid19-coronavirus-early-results.
Nascimento, I P, and L C C Leite. “Recombinant Vaccines and the Development of New Vaccine Strategies.” Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research = Revista Brasileira De Pesquisas Medicas e Biologicas, Sociedade Brasileira De Medicina Tropical, Dec. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3854212/.
US Department of Human and Health Services. “Vaccine Types.” Vaccines, Mar. 2020, www.vaccines.gov/basics/types.
World Health Organization. “CONTENT.” Vaccine Safety Basics, 2020, vaccine-safety-training.org/subunit-vaccines.html.
Comments