By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer
The Food and Drug Administration approved the updated Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines on August 22 and the Novavax update August 30.
Vaccines are needed to help human immunity keep pace with the rapidly evolving COVID virus, Chief Virologist at the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University Dr. Ben Neuman explained at a September briefing of Ethnic media Services.
Unlike a polio vaccine, where a childhood is hot in the arm lasts a lifetime, Covid vaccines must keep up with a quickly evolving virus, that spreads so much they begin to mutate. These changes occur within mere weeks or months, said Dr. Neuman, which is faster than human immunity can adapt without vaccines.
The length of time the T-cell immunity will lasts is uncertain, explains Dr. Neuman, though scientists have found the vaccines have given protection in many cases for two to three years. Therefore, those who have waited as long as three years to update their vaccine might be due for an update, Newman advises. He recommends getting boosted prior to Spring before the dominant variant grows substantially different from currently circulating strains.
The lower vaccination rates among Black and Latino communities, really comes down to trust, access, and equity, said Neuman. These communities aren’t just hesitant. They’ve been overlooked. Historically mistreated by the healthcare system, they tend to lack trust, trust that is further eroded by misinformation. Lobbying groups, ilike the one fronted by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., are currently targeting Black and Asian populations, explained Neuman, though this is not necessarily being done with I’ll intentions, he added.
Where language is a barrier, crucial information can be lost in what may seem like hieroglyphics if unavailable in your language, said Neuman. Then, fear may come into play as people make difficult choices about their health, especially if the information they see is not reliable.
In cases where transportation or a limited number of clinics is an issue, the barrier ia centered on access. And where the median income hovers around the poverty level, cost will create an additional barrier, especially considering the vaccines are no longer provided free of charge.
Fear of side effects is a problem for some But vaccinations naturally produce side effects as the build up an army of antibodies to protect you, said Newman. The vaccine makes antibodies, and those antibodies work against the current variants, building up fever and body aches as the human body fights the virus. And the more the body is fueled to deal with the virus, through supplements that increase the immune response, the stronger the fever and body aches may become as the added strength helps teach the body to fight the disease more effectively.
Over the past four years, Covid symptoms have grown more diverse, as new variants have expanded and adapted from initial strains, University of California School of Medicine Professor Peter Chin-Hong, M.D. added in the discussion.
Most strains present sore throat, congestion, headache, and muscle aches, while a few are marked with more unusual symptoms like pink eye, diarrhea, or nausea. In the absence of congestion, these novel symptoms can lead doctors down a rabbit hole to misdiagnoses.
KP.2 and KP.3 variants are the newest dominant strains, explained Dr. Hong. These strains are within the Omicron family, which followed Alpha and Beta variants in lineage.
There have been a number of changes within the Omicron family, as strains have continued to mutate and form new variants. A combination of two recent strains, the new dominant KP.3.1.1, which broke off of KP.3, has mutations that make it more infectious and more skilled at avoiding antibodies from both previous infections and the vaccines, said Dr. Hong.
Currently found in about 15% of cases and rising up in the charts across Europe, the KP.3 variant grew a little more transmissible than some previous strains, Hong said.
The good news, such recombinant variants can grow more mild as people are infected with two variants at the same time, allowing a mixing or combining of the variants. If the new strains are parented by two Omicron variants that are milder by nature than the Delta family, the recombinant genes are balanced in these milder traits and are less likely to cause more serious disease than predecessors.
From a strictly scientific point of view and without considering cost and other factors, the FDA should probably update the vaccine twice rather than once a year, added Neuman. This is because the average half life for the vaccine–the amount of time the vaccines protect against new infection–is less than six months and usually more like four months.
The short time span is not due to a weakness with the vaccines but because the virus adapts and mutates very quickly. And while the mRNA vaccines–the Pfizer and Moderna–are both based on the KP variant, the Novavax, a protein vaccine, is farmed out from moth cells, and takes much longer to create. The extra time required to develop the Novavax means it is less able to keep up with natural mutations of the COVID virus. Therefore, Based on JN.1, which peaked last March, the Nova vaccine is generally less durable, based, after all, on a now extinct variant.
In a future scenario where the virus makes a left turn, going back to something closer to JN.1, the Novavax could potentially be superior. And though some doctors may recommend a protein vaccine for certain patients, the mRNA vaccines generally provide more bang for your buck, Neuman advised. This, because mRNA technology allows vaccines to be based on strains that are more similar to current circulating viruses, said Newman.
New studies show that when monkeys are infected with COVID, some of the virus remains in the cells a year later, producing lingering negative effects. It is not necessarily a virus that you want to allow to take root at your home, said Neuman.
“It’s like the old vampire movies. The best thing to do is don’t invite them into the house. Don’t let them in in the first place. Then you don’t have to deal with the clean up afterward.”
Drug companies have presented their data on the new vaccines to the FDA. The data is available on their website for public view, found under the Vaccine Advisory Board meeting schedule under the June meeting materials (at bottom) under non-FDA parties.
