A QAnon and anti-vaccine podcaster has died from complications due to COVID-19 after contracting the virus at a conspiracy theory conference that turned into a superspreader event, and where fellow attendees baselessly blamed their illness on an anthrax attack.
The Herman Cain Award goes to…
In my opinion there is truth to both sides here, as is the case in most arguments.
While the current vaccines against COVID-19 sadly did not fulfill the hope of being sterilizing and thus being capable to eradicate COVID-19, they sure help prevent many cases of severe illness and hospitalizations as well as deaths especially for the elderly. So I think it does make a lot of sense to get vaccinated if you are older or have some medical condition that makes COVID-19 especially risky to you.
On the other hand it is equally true that the vaccines have been developed at an incredible speed and they are based on a completely new technology, at least regarding tests on humans. Typically vaccines need 5 to 10 years for development 1. Being worried about the safety of this new vaccines is not unreasonable, especially considering that there have been a lot more reports about adverse side effects than you typically get for vaccines. So at least to me it is understandable as well if especially healthy younger people not really at risk, are reluctant about getting vaccinated.
On an unrelated side note: I think the mRNA technology is freaking cool and I hope we can put it to more good use in the future.
A thing that worries me about it is that it is using your cell to express the spike protein. Effectively, “you” are making something to be attacked by your immune system as “other”.
Alot of the adverse effects show that the body is attacking itself, as is typical with autoimmune issues, like arthritis.
The immune system being a complex system, it just seems a reckless to push forward with this in all age groups with only just over a year of safety data with humans.
I hope everything will be just fine, but I’m not reassure by the censorship, mandates and liability waiver for big pharma
“Effectively you are making something to be attacked by your immune system as other”
Yes, because its exactly how viruses do it, they are nasty AF which is why its a great idea to make your immune system ready to fight the real deal, if/when it comes for you.
My point is this is the first time we are using mRNA to program our cells to produce spike. Previous vaccines took the entire virus either attenuated or dead to stimulate the immune response.
This is the first time we are using an mRNA snippet to program our cells to make a specific protein.
So no, factually you are incorrect. This is not “exactly” how viruses work.
Viruses insert RNA (or DNA, depending on the virus) into the cells they infect, and use your cells’ own machinery to replicate themselves, including portions of their capsids like spike proteins.
That’s… also what the mRNA vaccines do. The poster above is right. Whether it’s the vaccine or the virus, they’re both hijacking your cells’ to produce “body parts” of the virus.
This is true. I was incorrect. I guess my point is that it’s the first time humans are doing it to humans.
[edit] Further clarification: First time we are selecting/designing mRNA vs an occurance in nature.
I am aware of this concern and share it. I also agree that the risk benefit ration of being vaccinated is probably off for healthy younger people. Nonetheless I think this is a cool technology.
Risk management aside, it’s an amazing technology. We are biologically programming human cells.