I AM FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19, what now?
It’s been over 6 weeks now since I got my second dose of
Moderna. As I’ve been teaching face-to-face classes, I am akin to a frontline
worker as I deal with a lot of students working as front liners, some of them
even showing up to class on their scrubs. So I gathered tons of patience to
wait for 8 hours in line to get my first shot once I found out I am qualified
to get one. This was in January 10th. No side effects whatsoever, were felt with the
first shot, other than the usual soreness and tenderness at the injection site,
I always got every time I get a shot. Reports about side effects were posted on social media with
the second dose, and so I expected this ,
not as fortuitous, when my time comes. Surely, the second dose knocked me down for
a day with tiredness, body aches and low-grade fever. Which meant my body’s
immune system kicked in to kick out the COVID-19 coronavirus when it invades my
body again!
So I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19, what now?
Other than the heightened sense of security from getting the
disease, nothing else has mattered. I still wear mask in class, in going to grocery,
and anywhere indoor I enter. My wife and
I, still, have never dined out, and I don’t linger for a long time inside the
buffet restaurant when I pick up food to go. Nothing has changed, really. While the Texas Governor lifted the mask-wearing
mandate since March 10, store owners still have the option to require each one
to wear mask, which they do, or be denied entry. Our school still requires mask wearing, as
well. It makes me wonder, as it does with anybody else, what is the vaccination
for? The forever COVID guru, Dr. Anthony Fauci, even advised wearing two or
three masks, even for the fully vaccinated, adding to the layers of confusion
he posited since the pandemic began. While
the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) allowed no mask wearing in a small group of fully vaccinated, still it
weakens the reliability, if not the credibility, of the vaccine. Some things just don’t make sense!
I received an mRNA vaccine, a new breed of vaccines. Once
injected, some cells in our body would use the genetic information carried by
the mRNA in producing the spike proteins of the coronavirus. The spike proteins,
needed by the virus to attach to the body cells, are not produced by the body. Using
the mRNA in the vaccine to make the spike proteins tricks the body that it is
invaded by the coronavirus. So the immune system launches the appropriate response,
stimulating the activation of cells to produce antibodies against the virus.
This is how the vaccine works. Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines. The
Johnson and Johnson as well as the AstraZeneca vaccines are DNA vaccines. The DNA of the coronavirus that specifies the
spike proteins, carried by a virus vector, will produce mRNA when transcribed in
the body cells, and the spike proteins produced trigger the immune system.
Getting the COVID vaccine is the artificial way of acquiring
immunity against the virus. Individuals infected by the virus through contagion,
and who got sick, must have developed a strong immunity against the virus. And
which means, they don’t need to get a shot if only to follow the basic
principles of immunology. Strong immunity, this is because, the entire virus
gets into the body, akin to getting live vaccinations. There is a question,
though, if those who were infected and remained asymptomatic, or did not develop
the disease - are they getting immunity against the virus? In natural adaptive
immunity, getting sick indicates the body is launching the much-needed primary
immune response.
Whether immunity is acquired artificially through shots or
naturally through infection, how long does the immunity against the virus last
is a million-dollar question. Nobody knows, at least, for now. There are shots
that confer lifelong immunity, while shots against flu is something, we need to
get every year (flu season). Not much is known yet about immunity against COVID-19. One thing is sure, though, the SARS-Cov-2
(the virus that causes COVID-19) seems to change seemingly rapidly, as variants
of the virus, with different infectivity rate, have been reported. I will not
be surprised if booster vaccines against COVID-19 are needed in the days ahead.
So I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19, what now?
Can I start packing up and fly to the places in the world I
have planned on visiting before the pandemic? Can I visit relatives in the
Philippines? Can I reactivate my gym membership without fear of getting sick
with the virus? Can I speak, without the irritating and ‘breath-taking’
mask, in giving hour-long lectures? Can
I join and enjoy the company of friends in Filipino parties again?
Honestly, I am in the wait and see predicament. While
science says I can do now, science has a lot to know about the virus yet. For science can change, in a way, as the
virus also changes.
Stay safe everyone!
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What are you up to if you are already fully vaccinated? Please write your comments below. Also, please follow me in my blogs. Thank you!
