Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
A number of countries are competing to create vaccine which is powerful to prevent Covid-19 due to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, there are a number of things that make the vaccines that have been made ineffective.
Here are some examples of the causes of vaccines that have been produced are not effective against the corona virus that causes Covid-19:
1. Mutations
Mutation is one of the things that can make a vaccine that has been produced ineffective. Mutation is a change in the structure of a virus when it is reproducing or making copies of itself. Viruses with one or more new mutations are referred to as ‘variants’ of the original virus.
WHO explains that what causes the virus to change into a new variant is when the virus is widely circulated in a population and causes many infections. At that time, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases.
WHO said changes in viral genetic material can affect the nature of the virus, such as transmission, for example it can spread more or less easily or the severity, for example, can cause more or less severe disease.
Launching CNA, there are three variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have received special attention, namely B.1.1.7 (England), B.1.351 (South Africa), and B.1.1.28 / P1 (Brazil). All three variants are reported to have mutations in a protein spike called E484K.
The E484K mutation is said to allow the virus to avoid antibodies that neutralize the original virus.
However, WHO said that if one of the vaccines is proven to be less effective against one or more variants, it is possible to change the composition of the vaccine to make it effective.
2. Not stored at appropriate temperature
Molecular biologist Ahmad Rusdan Handoyo said vaccines should be stored at the recommended temperature. Vaccines made by Pfizer and BioNTech, for example, must be stored in very cold temperatures to maintain their integrity.
Ahmad said the degraded vaccines would not be effective if they were used to prevent Covid-19. This is because the integrity of the vaccine does not exist.
“Because the m-RNA vaccine is easily degraded, it needs super cold temperatures to ensure its integrity,” said Ahmad to CNNIndonesia.com, Thursday (12/11).
3. Not according to dosage
The majority of vaccines reportedly require two doses to create the expected antibodies. Currently, only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine claims it only takes a single dose of injection to create antibodies.
Launching the Health Line, research shows that the immune response does not appear optimally if a person only receives one dose of vaccine. Research shows that stronger immunity appears when a second dose is added.
Basically, the first dose of vaccine aims to initiate the process of building protection. The second dose works to strengthen that protection. Vaccines that require two doses are Oxford-AstraZeneca, Novavax, to CoronaVac.
(jps / DAL)
– .
