3 x positive news about the corona vaccines Long-term effects are unlikely
- Richard
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1. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may work for years
Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines may work for years, experts tell the New York Times. Although they examined a small group of 41 people, the results were good for publication in the authoritative journal Nature. As long as the circulating coronaviruses don’t change too much, the vaccines may continue to protect for years, possibly even life. This advantage does not apply to everyone, however, the experts fear. The elderly, people with a weakened immune system, and people taking drugs that suppress the immune system may need a booster vaccine. People who have been through covid and have been vaccinated afterward, are actually extra well protected.
This super-long effect only applies if the virus does not change too much, but unfortunately, new variants keep appearing with different infection rates and complaint patterns. The protection provided by the vaccines can also vary per variant. The government is now showing on the corona dashboard how much the different variants of the coronavirus are spreading in the Netherlands. The figures are not yet completely up to date, but it will soon be possible to see which variants are going around here.
2. Creepy Long-Term Effects Are Unlikely
De Volkskrant answers this frequently asked question: how safe are these new corona vaccines in the long term? In a few years, will we all have scary diseases or abnormalities from these new vaccines? In short, the answer is: no, it’s not likely. A vaccine is only in the body for a short time and is broken down quickly, so the side effects appear in the first hours, days to weeks explains editor Maarten Keulemans.
The ongoing studies on the vaccines are mainly intended to learn how the vaccine works in certain groups of patients that are more difficult to study, such as pregnant women or people with certain immune disorders. Of course, they also watch out for crazy long-term side effects, but that’s more to be sure. The thrombosis side effect after AstraZeneca’s vaccine was only discovered months later because it is so rare. This side effect also occurred soon after vaccination.
3. People with donor organs can also be protected
One of those special patient groups are people who have been transplanted, for example, they have a new kidney. They are attached for life to medicines against rejection of the foreign organ. This puts the immune system on the back burner, making the vaccine against corona not effective. The NEJM contains a study that shows that vaccination does make sense. 101 people participated with a donor organ (mainly kidneys). After two vaccines from Pfizer, only 40 percent were protected against Covid, but after three vaccines, that had risen to a very reasonable 68 percent of the participants.