Vaccines

Old, New and What Can We Do?

Howdy, today we are going to buckle down and discuss what is the most efficacious and safest types of vaccines. Due to the limits of my medical license, I cannot recommend or advise human application’s. I will, however, apply veterinarian principles to the current Chinese Virus (COVID-19) vaccines available and under clinical trials. Finally, I will conclude with a brief look back at 2020 and what we can do in 2021 to make it better.

The purpose of a vaccine is to precipitate a response by the host’s body and produce a targeted immune response to protect the host against an infectious disease. An ideal vaccine should provide long term and broad-spectrum protection against a biological pathogen and their continued mutations. Furthermore, vaccines should have minimal side effects or serious adverse reactions after administration. In the past hundred plus years, vaccines have evolved exponentially. I have found that scientific advancements have both positive and negative impacts on their patient’s health.

Researching this article, I placed vaccines in three broad categories.

The first one is a killed or inactivated biological pathogen injected into the body. This technology is the oldest and has the most historical data base. The killed vaccines have evolved significantly over time and typically cause an immuno-response without causing serious illness. The inactivated vaccines will need an adjuvant to boost this response. Adjuvants are chemical substances added to the vaccine in order to enhance and slow the host absorption of the vaccine. The slower and more complete uptake by the host immune-system will produce a safe long-term immunity. An example of the human inactivated vaccine is the influenza virus. If you are familiar with the flu vaccine, then you will realize that it has poor protection against mutations. Therefore, the vaccine must be reformulated every year to provide the most up-to-date protection. Inactivated Chinese virus vaccines currently in clinical trials are the Sinovac and the Sinopharm.

The second category are the modified live or attenuated vaccines. These are biological pathogens that have been purified from toxins and modified in order to not cause clinical illness. The body recognizes the impudent pathogens and forms immunity. Typically, these vaccines are the most efficacious, least invasive and protective even if mutations to the pathogen occur. Since they are live pathogens, extensive testing and development are required, thus, taking the longest time and cost to develop. An example of a failed attenuated vaccine is the pet rabies virus. The first rabies vaccine was a modified live vaccine; however, it caused multiple cases of iatrogenic rabies infections and was removed from the market. The killed rabies vaccine we use today replaced it. Examples of attenuated vaccines in humans are the oral polio vaccine and the codagenix (still in clinical trials) for the Chinese virus.

The final category of vaccines is what I would describe as molecular engineered biologicals. The three main types are viral vector, protein and genetic of subunit vaccines. These modern biologicals have several things in common. All of them have either genetic material or proteins extracted from the pathogen virus and their true efficacy and safety are not well documented. Viral vector vaccines use a harmless virus as a host. DNA or RNA from the pathogen is injected into the vector virus. Because it is a modified live viral vector, it generates a very strong immune response by the host and thus good immunity. Current viral vector vaccines in human use are the Ebola and the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Protein vaccines are comprised of surface molecules normally found on the outer covering of the pathogen. Because these proteins are unique to the pathogen, they cause antibodies to be formed to target the BAD pathogen and consequently the destruction of the pathogenic agent by the host immune system. The genetic vaccines are basically benign small strands of DNA or RNA of the pathogen that after injection into the host, force the host immune cells to make the proteins unique to the BAD agent. Those proteins are used to form antibodies and therefore immunity. Current human examples of genetic/subunit vaccines are the Pfizer/BioTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. In the veterinary field there are several examples of genetically engineered biologicals. Currently, Merial produces a genetically engineered biological for feline rabies, leukemia and canine distemper diseases.

The information above is very broad and general. I hope it will stimulate a further investigation of these new types of vaccines before you blindly trust the federal government and big Pharm. Because of naivety of the new vaccination science, the type of immuno-protection along with its intermediate and long-term effects are unknown in the human host. The veterinary biologics have been

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My Favorite Animal

Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, “Fried chicken.”

She said I wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t have been right, because everyone else in the class laughed.

My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much.

I do, too. Especially chicken, pork, and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal’s office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was. I told her it was chicken. She asked me why. I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal’s office again. He laughed, and told me not to do it again. I don’t understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn’t like it when I am.

Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most.

I told her, “Colonel Sanders.”

Guess where I am now ...