Since March, when the Coronavirus situation was announced as a pandemic, everybody’s lives have been turned upside down. I’m sure I’m not talking on just my own behalf when I say that it was such a relief to hear that Pfizer have developed a successful vaccine for Covid, and it will soon be rolled out in the UK after the government has purchased 20 million doses. The UK is the first country to approve the vaccine!
Despite the fact that the vaccine is predicted to help us return to a somewhat normal way of living by spring, it isn’t being greatly received by everybody. This concern stems from past examples of vaccines gone wrong, such as the Polio vaccine Cutter incident in 1955.
Frankie, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham researched into the many myths that are believed about the vaccine and debunked them on her instagram (@afrankphd). The scepticism of some individuals regarding the vaccine stem from five main misconceptions:
The vaccine has been rushed.
There hasn’t been enough testing for the vaccine.
We don’t need different vaccines from different companies.
The vaccine won’t be safe as we don’t know what’s in it.
The vaccine could give allergic reactions and cause damage.
Most of the public’s concerns regarding the vaccine revolve around the safety of the vaccine and whoever takes it. A primary concern is that the vaccine has been rushed as usually they can take years to be developed, whereas this vaccine has been developed in around 9 months. Although this can seem alarming when it is taken at face value, it is not being taken into consideration that other vaccines face a lot more barriers in production that the Covid-19 vaccine has not faced as a result of the situation. The development of the Coronavirus vaccine has been given a huge amount of funding as it is a very key step that needs to be taken in order to move forward and out of this pandemic. More funding means that there are more scientists and equipment that have been used to speed up the process.
In regards to the amount of testing for the virus, the phase III clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine have involved over 43,000 participants. Usually, phase III trials are required to be on groups of patients ranging from 300-3,000. In the circumstance that this demand for participants can’t be met, the phase II clinical trials can be held back. This is also the case in instances of low disease prevalence. However, the Covid-19 phase III trial had none of these issues due to the fact that millions of people globally have had the vaccine.
We do need different vaccines from different companies, as there isn’t a vaccine that will be useful for every single individual. Currently, 12 out of 200 coronaviruses that are being developed are in their phase III clinical trials. Another benefit of multiple vaccines is that they will each have different strengths and weaknesses, which means that combined they can be much better than if only one was developed.
Although we may not all know exactly what is inside the Covid-19 vaccine, this does not mean that it is unsafe. The vaccines have been developed by professional and experienced scientists. Not only this, but they undergo rigorous testing which involves multiple steps, including animals and three different clinical trial stages to ensure both safety and efficacy. Furthermore, a large majority of the front running vaccines were not formulated from scratch. There are many coronaviruses which have been around for a long time: the knowledge of these vaccines has helped to develop the coronavirus vaccines.
Finally, there is indeed a chance that you could have an allergic reaction to the vaccine, although it is very slim. The chances of having an allergic reaction are smaller than the chance of being struck by lightning (1.760,000 compared to 1/700,000).
Misinformation regarding the vaccine is not as uncommon as you may think. A lot of people are unsure and scared for themselves and their loved ones in this strange time- even if they are not out rightly against the vaccine, they may need some reassurance.
Commonly, it is the older generation that are doubtful regarding current scientific research. Sharing this post or Frankie’s post on instagram to your family members and loved ones could help them understand the upcoming vaccine, even if it will take a while for them to receive it.
On another note, I want to say thankyou to everybody for the huge amount of support I have already received in regards to this blog. I was quite nervous at first about starting this, but I am over the moon that I decided to do it. I have recently started an instagram for the blog (@emergingscientistmw) where you can contact me with any questions or requests. Failing that, you can comment on my content ideas forum if there's anything you would like to read!
I will be posting next Sunday at 7pm, and I am going to try and stick to this schedule. I think I'm going to talk about my new position working in an asymptomatic testing centre and what the new Covid-19 rapid test is like, as it has been quite an experience for me!
Thankyou,
Meg xx