ACTIVITY ONE

Corona virus has been threatening the world since it occurred in December 2019. The
number of the infected people is more and more increasing, and reaches around 73.92 million
people. Scientists throughout the world are collaborating in researching the vaccines in a
quite great rush. They have been working for about eight months. Some vaccines have been
through with some phases and already been approved to be used. It seems that people’s hope
comes true. They have been tired of not only being threatened by the virus but also getting
their economy fall down into the lowest level. Despite the great hope of the invention of the
vaccines, some people still doubt about its effectiveness for some reasons and therefore think
that being vaccinated is not the only way to fight the corona virus.
These people argue that the process of making vaccine is too short when compared to
other vaccines which took 10 to 20 years of researching to be safe enough to use. To be used
safely, Vaccines have to pass some steps to develop – pre-clinical trials, three phases of
clinical trials. Surely it needs a long time as each phase takes some months to get the accurate
result. Forced by the need of stopping the viral contagion, some countries even accelerated
the speed of the vaccines development by skipping the preclinical trial that is quite important
to guarantee the safety when applied to human. Some experts say that assessing the vaccines
cannot be done in rush. They need accurate data and proper steps. The ineffective or unsafe
vaccine will be useless and it is possible to be harmful. Byram Bridle, University of Guelph,
Canada says, “How long would it take to determine if a vaccine can confer immunological
memory for one year? Of ourse, it would take at least one year.” The vaccine developers are
asked to ensure that there won’t be ADE (AntibodyDevelopment Enhancement) – immune
reaction where vaccination makes subsequent exposure to the virus more dangerous. The
second reason is that the potential side effect for the long term cannot be measured yet. Some
vaccine platforms – WHO used to take one platform to be the international standard - can
bring about the risks. The body mechanism and metabolism can be troubled by those some
different platforms. What is faced is the same virus, but the effect can be different.
Furthermore, we lack of the knowledge on coronaviruses.
We need to answer these questions: Can our antibodies protect us well? Can the
immunity last for a long time? or Is there a problem due to the post long covid19 for the
people who had had covid19? Unfortunately, we cannot answer those questions for sure. "The
risk of the speedy development," says Bridle, "is that poor-quality vaccines could potentially
turn people into asymptomatic carriers that spread the virus." The other reason is that the
efficacy of some vaccines which are not developed properly are still doubted, especially
when it deals with genetic matter that influences individual immunity. Obesity, for example,
can cause other diseases such as diabetes or hypertension that lower the immunity. This can
reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine. The effectiveness of vaccines can be seen by how
vaccination triggers the antibody-making and how good is the response from the Tcells
after the vaccination.
On contrary, some people believe that vaccination is the most proper way to fight the
coronavirus which has killed a lot of people and is still spreading faster and faster. The first
reason is that scientists have found the new technology of mRNA vaccine (messenger RNA)
which doesn’t need a long process to make it. This type of vaccine teaches our body how to
make spike protein that will trigger the immune system to produce antibodies. Viral protin is
not easy to manufacture during the biochemistry protein synthesis, but mRNA is able to
represent the complicated information or system in a simple way. In fact, the process of
manufacturing the protein is molecularly the same from a manufacturing standpoint. In
addition, this vaccine can be developed in any laboratory having the available materials.
Therefore, when there is information on coronavirus, the researchers begin to design the
mRNA instructions for the cells to build the unique spike protein into a mRNA vaccine.
Surely, the process of making vaccines can be standardized and importantly doesn’t take a
long time. People should know that despite the short time of making the vaccines, researchers
included a lot of people in the study to validate the safety and efficacy, such as 70,000 people
injected during the phase of clinical trials, and found them safe. This is such a huge safety
data to ensure that the vaccines are safe. To answer the people’s doubt about the long effect of
the vaccine, mRNA Vaccine is transient, temporary. This is RNA, it’s only message and does
its work only in cytoplasm, so it doesn’t influence our body or becomes part of the body. The
last reason is that this vaccine has great efficacy. The covid19 mRNA vaccines give
instructions to the cells to make spike protein, then the cells display the protein to be
recognized by the immune system. When the system says that the protein doesn’t belong
there, the antibodies are made. At last, the immune memory remembers it and our body learns
how to protect itself against the future infection.
The most important target of making vaccines is to make the antibodies able to be
against the protein on the surface of the virus. Those antibodies covering the protein of the
virus stop the virus from doing anything. Researches realize that antibodies are sometimes
not able to cover all viruses, so our body needs the response of T cells. If the T cells can
recognize the spike protein, then it will be pretty easier to kick on the viruses. According to
Professor Shane Crotty, PhD’s research, the immune memory in people having had the
covid19 can remember the virus pretty well. Similarly, after vaccination, not only are the
antibodies formed well, but the response of the T cells is high also. The advantage of this
vaccine is that everyone vaccinated won’t get a risk of getting sick with coronavirus.
In conclusion, vaccines are badly needed to make the herd immunity. It is hoped that
when 70% of the population in the world get the immunity, the spread for the virus can be
stopped. However, surely it needs time as the production cannot cover the large number of
people in a short time. While waiting for the production, people are asked to obey the health
protocol. This can help slow the rapid spread.
(Written by Hedwig Maria)
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW
1. Find out the issue of the text
2. Find out the function of the first paragraph
3. Find out the function of the words “On contrary” in the third paragraph
4. Find out the content of the last paragraph
5. How do mRNA vaccine differ from traditional vaccine platforms, and what
advantages do they offer in terms of rapid development?
6. What is the key factor influencing public perceptions of vaccine safety and efficacy
and how can these factors be addressed to promote widespread vaccination?
7. If you were the government, what would you do to cope the issue above?