Can the vaccines cause COVID-19? How do they work?
No. Vaccines do not contain the whole virus so they cannot cause COVID-19. The vaccines consist of mRNA that causes your body to make a protein that is on the surface of the virus and your body makes an immune response to this protein. mRNA often makes people think of DNA and wonder if the vaccines interact with our genes: they do not! mRNA works in a completely different part of our cells. DNA is like files on your hard drive. mRNA is like a piece of paper you are making copies of on your copier.
Will this vaccine get incorporated into my DNA?
No. Some people may get confused because the messenger RNA makes people think of DNA. But it is a very different thing. The messenger RNA cannot get inside the nucleus of the cell where DNA is housed. It also is very fragile and will not last long inside your body.
Is the vaccine a 2-step vaccine requiring another injection? If yes, when is the second one due?
There are multiple vaccines coming out and some of them do require a second dose. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines both require a second dose. The second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is given about 21 days after the first. The second dose of the Moderna vaccine is given about 28 days after the first.
Why is it two doses? Is this unusual?
No. Many vaccines have to be given in more than one shot to trigger an immune response (hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV among others).
How do you track the 2nd dose? What happens if people do not come back?
We will record your vaccine schedule in your medical record and/or give you a card that has your vaccine date on it. If you are getting your vaccine at an outreach event, the outreach staff will come back to the same location when it is time for the second dose. If people do not come back, we will do our best to contact them. Based on the trial data we know that even if we never find them, that they will have some protection after the first dose (and that looks like quite a lot.)
Is this an annual or seasonal vaccine? Or do we need to get this vaccine every year like flu vaccine or is it just depend on pandemic?
I think this will become clearer once we can follow people for longer. We do know that the virus can change a bit over time, something that is observed with all viruses. We also know that some of these changes could impact the strength of the vaccine. Improving the vaccine to respond to these new “variants” is happening now. But the vaccines we have now still have a tremendous amount of protection, even against these new variants.
How long does the protection of the vaccine last? The earliest patients were enrolled in studies in March 2020, so that is how long we have information about how long the vaccine protects us. We need to follow the patients for a longer period of time to really know for sure.
Once the pandemic is over, we do not need to get the vaccine, correct?
Actually, it is likely that this will become a regular vaccine. This virus is part of a broader family of coronaviruses, that are seasonal - much like the flu. There are examples of vaccines wiping out viruses, such as smallpox. But this virus is very different from smallpox so we will need to see how things progress this year to know for certain.
Do we know why people are allergic to this vaccine?
We are actively studying this right now. Some experts think that the polyethylene glycol, a component in the Pfizer vaccine, may be causing the severe reactions but we are doing more research. If you are someone who has a history of severe allergic reactions, we will ask you to wait in a safe, post-vaccine waiting area for 15 minutes so that you can receive immediate medical attention if you have a reaction. Everyone is invited to wait after their vaccine, for easy access to medical care if anything happens! It is important that you talk to your provider about your specific situation if you have allergies.
If I get COVID even though I got the vaccine, will it prevent me from getting really sick with COVID?
Yes! The studies show that the COVID-19 vaccine will keep people from getting really sick with COVID-19. During the vaccine, there were 10 people who caught a severe case of COVID-19, with nine of the cases occurring in the placebo group and only one in the vaccine group.
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