Covid Vaccines, importance and benefits

For about two years we have been tormented by the presence of Sars-CoV-2 or as we better know it from COVID-19.

Needless to say, this virus, which has spread throughout the world, has created significant difficulties of all kinds and the great social impact it has, makes it a real public health problem. Italy has experienced an unprecedented human crisis. As one of the first countries in Europe to have had to deal with an exponential growth in COVID cases, our healthcare system has been almost brought to the point of collapse, with overcrowded intensive care units and doctors forced to apply triage. While photos and videos of Italian solidarity and community - such as people singing from balconies - have gone around the world, this has also left the country in deep mourning.

Fortunately, scientists and researchers around the world have worked to formulate a vaccine that has initially protected the most at-risk categories for whom the complications of COVID can be fatal, and then slowly the whole population is coming under the vaccination plan.

.Let's see now How mRNA vaccines work:

The ribonucleic acid molecule-based, mRNA vaccines approved for the COVID-19 vaccine campaign deliver into some cells of the immunized person a small segment of mRNA that contains instructions to temporarily produce the Spike protein, a protein found on the surface of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus.

In these vaccines, the small segment of mRNA from the virus is inserted inside microscopic lipid vesicles that, upon fusing with human cells, carry it into the cell. Here, the viral mRNA segment initiates the temporary production of Spike proteins that, recognized as foreign, stimulate the immune response, with the activation of lymphocytes and the production of antibodies.

After vaccination, some of the lymphocytes that reacted against the Spike protein survive for several months. The presence of these "memory lymphocytes" will allow the immune system of the immunized person to rapidly activate a formidable response against a possible invasion of the COVID-19 virus.

Can mRNA vaccines cause COVID-19 disease or other genetic alterations?

These vaccines do not use active viruses, only a genetic component. No whole or live viruses are involved, so the vaccines cannot cause disease. Vaccine mRNA, like all mRNAs produced by cells, naturally degrades after a few days in the person receiving it.

What does a vaccine contain?

Comirnaty contains a molecule called messenger RNA enclosed in liposomes formed from ALC-0315 and ALC-0159 to facilitate entry into cells.

The inactive ingredients (excipients) are:

((4-Hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate) (ALC-0315)

2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide (ALC-0159)

1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC)

Cholesterol

Potassium chloride

Potassium dihydrogen phosphate

Sodium chloride

Disodium phosphate dihydrate

Sucrose

Water for injectable preparations

 How effective is it?

The results of these studies have shown that two doses of the vaccine given to can prevent 95% of adults 16 years of age and older from developing COVID-19 disease with essentially consistent results across age groups, gender, and ethnicity.

The 95% reduction refers to the difference between the 162 cases that occurred in the group of 18,325 who received placebo and the only 8 cases that occurred in the 18,198 who received the vaccine.

 Is the protection effective immediately after injection?

No, efficacy was demonstrated approximately 1 week after the second dose.

What adverse reactions may occur?

The most frequently observed adverse reactions (more than 1 in 10 people) were generally mild to moderate and resolved within a few days after vaccination. These included pain and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills, and fever. Redness at the injection site and nausea occurred in fewer than 1 in 10 people. Itching at the injection site, pain in the limbs, enlarged lymph nodes, difficulty falling asleep, and feeling unwell were uncommon effects, affecting less than 1 in 100 people. Weakness in the muscles on one side of the face (acute peripheral facial palsy) occurred rarely, in less than 1 in 1,000 people.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)