Israel, which implemented vaccination very early and is regarded as a model of global epidemic prevention, has seen a rapid increase in the epidemic recently. In the face of the new crown virus, vaccination cannot be done once and for all, and some people are not even suitable for vaccination. Under this circumstance, how to rationally view the benefits and problems brought by vaccines?
In Israel, which implemented Pfizer’s vaccination program in December last year, the vaccine coverage rate exceeded 60% very early, and 78% of people aged 12 and over were vaccinated. This enabled the Israeli epidemic to be quickly brought under control, and it was even called the “global epidemic prevention model.”
However, since June, the epidemic in Israel has risen again, and it has recently become one of the most severely affected countries in the world. According to the Oxford University database “Our World in Data”, Israel’s 7-day rolling average number of infections was the highest in the world as of September 3, with 1143 infections per 1 million population.
Many infected people have been vaccinated with two doses, and cases of breakthrough infection have occurred in large numbers. A joint study conducted by the Maccabi Medical Center and Karolinska Institute, one of Israel’s four major health maintenance organizations (HMOs), pointed out that the sooner the second dose of vaccination is completed, the risk of breakthrough infection is higher. The number of late vaccinations increased significantly.
Dr. Dong Yuhong, a European virology and infectious disease expert and chief scientist of a biotechnology company, pointed out that although the elderly with the weakest immune system were the first to be vaccinated, if they were stratified by age, it was found that all age groups had similar trends.
Israel began to widely administer the third dose of vaccine from August 1.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, whether it is for the original virus or the Delta variant, one month after the third injection, the antibody level is higher than that of the second injection, especially for the 65-85 age group, the increase is even greater. In addition, within 12 days of receiving the third dose of the vaccine, the likelihood of severe illness is 10 times lower than that of people 5 months after the second dose, and the likelihood of infection is 11 times lower.
When vaccine prevention cannot be done once and for all, how to rationally treat the issue of vaccination?
Earlier, the Israeli Ministry of Health statistics found that the protective power of Pfizer vaccine has dropped sharply. People who administer 2 doses of Pfizer vaccine in January have reduced their protective power to 16% by July.
This is because the antibodies obtained from the vaccine will be slowly metabolized by the body to reduce; another reason is that the Delta variant virus is too transmittable.
The new crown virus has a high transmission capacity and mutation capacity: it has spread to the world in three months, and new variant viruses have always appeared. Dong Yuhong pointed out that the emergence of C.1.2 variants in South Africa implies that the mutation rate of the new coronavirus is getting faster and faster and has a considerable impact on the vaccine. “The virus has been upgraded three times before the vaccine has been completed.”
At present, the scientific community believes that the basic method of protection against viral infectious diseases is to vaccinate, such as smallpox vaccine, measles vaccine, flu vaccine, and hepatitis B vaccine.
In the past, vaccines were effective because DNA viruses such as smallpox and hepatitis B were relatively stable. Nowadays, the new coronavirus vaccine will not only start the third shot, but depending on the rate of decrease in protection, there may be fourth and fifth shots in the future.
However, now it is clear that vaccination alone cannot completely prevent this pandemic, and not everyone is suitable for vaccination. At present, there are at least 6 problems with vaccine anti-epidemic countermeasures:
1. Durability of vaccine protection:Vaccination may also be infected, and a booster injection is required after 5 to 6 months, not lifelong immunity.
2. Severe protection rate:Signs of decline begin to appear, even if the third injection is given, continuous monitoring is still required. The Mayo Clinic study found that the critical illness protection of the Modena vaccine dropped to 81% in July; the Pfizer vaccine dropped to 75%. According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, as of August 15, 514 Israelis had been hospitalized due to severe or critical illness, 59% of whom were fully vaccinated.
3. Virus mutation:Variant viruses can produce immune escape. A paper from the British Government’s Emergency Science Advisory Group mentioned that in the case of widespread vaccines, depending on the characteristics of the virus, variants with immune escape capabilities may appear, and they will soon become an advantage. Virus strain.
4. Side effects:Vaccination will have side effects to some extent, but some people will experience rare serious adverse reactions (thrombosis, heart inflammation, neuropathy) and even death. Moreover, long-term safety data for vaccines are currently lacking. The knowledge of the new coronavirus is not sufficient. It is now found that the spike protein of the virus can also damage human cells and cause myocarditis, but it is also the spike protein that makes the vaccine work in the body.
5. Contraindications:Not everyone can get the vaccine. People who are allergic to vaccine ingredients cannot be beaten, and two other types of people are relatively unsuitable:
● Relative taboo 1:For people with severe immunodeficiency, the effect of the vaccine is very weak.
● Relative taboo 2:People with serious diseases, such as heart disease, blood system disease, etc., are not suitable for fighting and are more likely to have serious side effects.
6. Supply issues:Not every country can supply enough vaccines, and it is impossible for everyone to administer them.
Dong Yuhong pointed out that people should start thinking about whether there are other ways to protect themselves besides vaccinations. She likened the human body’s complete immunity to “five fingers”, which are physical barriers (nose and throat), epithelial cells, natural immune cells (such as macrophages, natural killer cells), T cells, and B cells. All together can become a fist and effectively fight the virus. The vaccine only stimulates the “finger” of B cells, and the antibodies produced by B cells cannot be stimulated only by vaccines.
Vaccination has been administered globally for more than half a year, and the vaccination rate in many countries has exceeded 50%, but the epidemic has not been controlled as originally expected. Dong Yuhong said that from the current perspective, vaccines are not the ultimate solution to the epidemic. The most fundamental thing is to improve everyone’s own immunity in order to better protect themselves from the epidemic.
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Editor in charge: Li Qingfeng
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