There’s a lot of confusion about how the covid vaccine works and how it was created. Most of the misinformation out there is due to a lack of communication from doctors and scientists. Let’s look at some facts to try and clear this up. I’ll start with some background; bear with me because it will really help as we get into things.
In the 1990’s, scientists were using something called messenger RNA (usually called mRNA) in lab tests to try and treat various deficiencies. There were diseases that were caused by the body not making proteins that were needed for good health. mRNA is the blueprint that your body uses to make protein. The idea was that if the body was given extra blueprints for the missing proteins, it could make enough to cure the disease. Our bodies take sections of our DNA and makes a backwards copy of it, and then it can use that backwards copy as a blueprint to make a protein.
In 2003, a deadly virus went through Asia. It was called SARS, and it was a coronavirus. It was super-deadly and spread quickly. Thankfully, it never became a pandemic because it was too deadly. It killed people there before they could spread it to others. Fortunately, it died out before it could find a way to spread more easily. However, it showed doctors that there was a need to have a vaccine that could be made rapidly in case another new virus showed up.
Viruses usually have proteins stuck on the outside of their shell. This lets it stick to whatever human cells it needs to invade. These proteins are different for every kind of virus, and let is identify them, like a fingerprint. For example, a flu virus has one type of protein on the outside called “H” and another called “N”. There’s several different shapes for the H protein and several different ones for the N protein. We name flu viruses by which ones they have. For example, the swine flu has type 1 of the H protein and type 1 of the N protein, so it’s called H1N1. When we make a flu shot for the H1N1 virus, we actually take a lot of H1 protein and N1 protein and inject it into the body. Your body knows that these aren’t supposed to be there, and builds a defense against them so if they ever show up again, we can destroy it before it makes us sick.
Our body starts its fight against infections with antibodies. These are a special kind of protein that recognizes a foreign object in the blood and signals the rest of your immune system to attack it. (It’s a lot like Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith show. It can recognize the bad guy, maybe grab it by the arm, but it isn’t able to kill it by itself.) It’s an incredibly important part of your system since it lets your body know there’s an invader.
In 2005, the research on mRNA was brought into the vaccine field. Since we didn’t know what the next virus would look like, the goal was to find a way to rapidly create and deploy a new vaccine with the smallest amount of time wasted. We decided that since we didn’t know what proteins the next virus would have on its shell, we needed to have a system that could be changed very quickly. It takes a long time to make a lot of protein for shots (flu shots take about 8 months, and we usually use chicken eggs, since they already have a lot of protein inside them you can use). That wouldn’t work if another virus like SARS showed up. Instead, we decided to use mRNA.
Scientists have gotten good at finding out what DNA a virus is made from. Most viruses are fairly simple and only make a few proteins, so we can pinpoint which part of the DNA makes each protein blueprint, including the proteins on the outside. We make a backwards copy of it (the mRNA). If we inject that mRNA into a human, it uses that mRNA to make the protein from the virus. It’s important to remember this is not the virus. It’s just the protein on the outside, so it really can’t do anything.
Now that we knew what to do, we had to make sure that the mRNA got into the body and to the cells where the protein could get produced. If we just inject mRNA into the body, it gets destroyed right away and recycled. So we have to wrap it up in a shell that looks just like a normal cell membrane. That way, your body doesn’t really pay attention to it. It gets to all the cells in your body and merges with them, like soap bubbles will merge together. The mRNA is now inside your cells and the cells treat it like any other blueprint. We’ve just stuck another blueprint into the stack to make proteins.
So our body makes the protein and it gets dumped back into the bloodstream. Your body sees that it’s not normal and makes antibodies against it. Now, if the real virus shows up, you’ve already got antibodies ready to catch it and have it destroyed.
For covid, there’s a protein on the outside that looks like a spike, called the spike protein. (Scientists aren’t very creative). The spike is what lets it stick to certain cells in our lungs and lead to COronaVIrus Disease (that’s where covid got its name). When COVID-19 started, it didn’t take long to find out what’s its DNA looked like, and to find the section where the spike protein blueprint was stored. We were quickly able to make mRNA blueprints of that and put them in a vaccine.
So let’s talk about some questions:
Q. How did they make the vaccine so fast?
A. All the work had been done over a decade ago. Once COVID-19 started, it was easy to make the mRNA vaccines. It’s probably more worthwhile to ask why it took so long to get out! (Since it was a new virus, the vaccine was considered a new drug and had to do FDA trials).
Q. Can the vaccine change my DNA/make me have cancer/make me infertile/etc?
A. Absolutely not. There’s no way for your body to take mRNA and stick it into your DNA. There are two main reasons. mRNA can’t get back into your cell nucleus, where DNA is stored. That’s a one-way door; mRNA can only go out. And our bodies don’t have any machinery to reverse RNA and make DNA out of it. That takes a special enzyme that our bodies don’t have.
Q. Are there side effects down the road we don’t know about yet?
A. No. The mRNA from the vaccine has been completely used up within 48 hours of getting the vaccine, and the spike protein is completely gone after two weeks. All that’s left are the antibodies you made, and those are slowly broken down over time unless you get exposed to the virus itself. All the serious side effects reported have been in the first 14 days; there’s no real way you can have late side effects down the road as there’s nothing left from the vaccine or its product (the spike protein) after that.
Q. How can we be sure of that?
A. In medicine, nothing is guaranteed. However, the way these vaccines work pretty much closes the door on that possibility. Also, while they were working on the vaccines in the 2010’s, other viruses like Ebola and Zika showed up and mRNA vaccines were tested for them. We’ve got a decade worth of research on the mRNA system to show the safety.
Q. Why do people feel bad after getting the vaccine?
A. People can feel bad after any vaccine. We’re asking our bodies to make a ton of antibodies, so there’s a lot of protein getting used up. If your body doesn’t have enough spare protein, it has to pull protein from your muscles (which causes muscle aches) and from your gut, particularly your liver (so you feel tired, nauseated, or have diarrhea). With the COVID vaccines, your body has to make the spike protein and then make the antibodies, so it has to do twice as much work and use twice as much protein. You can get around a lot of that by really increasing your protein intake and drinking a lot of water for 2-3 days before and after getting the vaccine.
Q. Is the vaccine safe in pregnant women?
A. We think so. The way the shot works doesn’t affect the baby at all. Additionally, a lot of women got pregnant after getting the vaccine, and some were pregnant but didn’t know it when they got the vaccine. We haven’t seen any problems with those pregnancies at this point. COVID-19 is very dangerous to pregnant women and has led to many miscarriages and emergency deliveries. Because of that, doctors definitely think it’s safer for pregnant women to get the vaccine rather than risk losing their child because of the infection. In fact, the American College of ObGyn is now recommending that pregnant women get the vaccine regardless of how far along they are in their pregnancy.
Q. Are there microtransmitters/trackers/chips in the vaccine?
A. No. Basic physics could prove that to you. We don’t have batteries that small that are functional, and no battery could last the rest of your life. Same for antennas. It’s just physically impossible to have either a battery or an antenna that you could inject through a needle and have any functional purpose. Plus, it’s much easier and more reliable to track people from their cell phones.
Q. Why do people need a booster?
A. The amount of antibodies floating in your body drops with time. If you’re not exposed to that virus, your body breaks the antibodies down and recycles the parts. We’re still learning how long these antibodies last and how often we’ll need a booster.
Q. Why are some people getting COVID even when they’ve had the vaccine?
A. Sometimes the amount of antibodies in your body has dropped so low it’s not able to signal the rest of your immune system in time. The bigger problem is mutations. The more the virus spreads, the more likely it is to make a mistake and have a small mistake in the spike protein. Most of the time the mistake keeps the virus from spreading and it disappears. Sometimes, however, the mistake actually makes it stronger, or changes the way the spike looks enough that your antibodies don’t recognize it. Those mistakes stick around, since those viruses can spread even more. The Delta variant is one type of mistake that made the virus harder to find by your body and lets it spread more quickly.
Q. I’m young and healthy. Why should I worry about getting the vaccine?
A. Even young, healthy people get sick from COVID and die sometimes, and it’s happening more with the Delta variant than ever before. But just as importantly, because you can still spread it to other people. Even if it doesn’t make you sick, you could still spread it to your parents, your grandparents, aunts and uncles, or the little old lady at the gas station that you hold the door for. In Philippeans 2:4, Paul writes, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” The Lord doesn’t want us to only think about ourselves, but about those around us. When we get the vaccine, we are helping to make sure that someone weaker than us may not get the virus later. It’s the same thing with flu shots. Healthy people need to get it, not for themselves, but for those who aren’t as strong. COVID can kill anyone (just look at the hospitals around here; we have people of every age on ventilators), but those older and younger are more susceptible.
Q. My sister/cousin/FB friend says that my health problems won’t allow me to get the shot. What do I do?
A. There are only two reasons that you truly cannot get the vaccines. The first is if you have had anaphylaxis to a COVID vaccine in the past. The second is if you’re allergic to any part of the vaccine. Specifically, that means Miralax, since the shell around the mRNA is made of something very similar to Miralax. Otherwise, anyone can get it. We are more cautious with people with certain health issues that affect their immune system. They can still get it, but we watch them a little more closely. Heart/lung/diabetes/stomach/autoimmune issues are not a reason to avoid the vaccine, as there are no direct interactions there.