THE DOCTOR IS IN OP-ED By Dr. Adil Manzoor
There used to be a time in the not-too-distant past when being fully vaccinated essentially meant you were immune against the coronavirus. I mean, that’s kind of the point of vaccination. But because our foe is a formidable one, it quickly mutated and evolved to evade the protective efforts of vaccines. Now, just two regular shots are the mere beginning.
Note that I didn’t say full vaccination is useless or nothing – you still need to be fully vaccinated before you can get booster doses. Think of it, how can you boost immunity if you don’t have immunity? I have heard people in the media and around me try to play down vaccination because “you can still get the virus.” That’s not false, but taken out of context, a behavior very typical of the people against vaccines.
The vaccines we have now, in their base form, can protect against the parent strain of the coronavirus. The three widely used vaccines in the United States – Pfizer, Moderna, J&J – essentially all confer protection against getting the parent virus and reduce the risk of hospitalization or death to virtually zero. But, as I said, our foe is a formidable one.
The virus mutated, which isn’t too out of place, considering that’s what living things do. The scary part is how dangerous the variants are. The Delta variant was the first real one to give us serious problems, and it necessitated us to shift the booster doses timetable forward.
I should say, right at the early stages of vaccine administration, we have always suspected that booster doses may be needed in the future. What we didn’t know was how soon, and Delta effectively gave the green light. The booster doses worked wonderfully well against the Delta variant. Then came Omicron.
Although the boosters have been shown to work well against Omicron, there are still breakthrough cases here and there. In fact, Israel has started taking steps to get people a fourth shot. Fouth. And we’re still here begging people to even get one. That’s one of the reasons the virus will keep mutating and new variants emerging.
All I have said today are likely things you already know. The million-dollar question is, “what’s the next step?” Scientists cannot say for sure, but we have antiviral pills that can help curb the spread and severity of COVID-19. But that’s not nearly enough since the pills do not prevent people from getting the virus in the first place.
This time last year, we were in the “the vaccine wouldn’t make you a zombie” war. Now, we’re battling Omicron. Who knows what we’ll be battling in a year’s time? No one knows the answer to that question, and that’s very scary because it just might be another super variant. We need to devise a strategy that can assure us victory no matter the variant, and I have some news.
An army lab has developed, drum rollllllllllll, a super vaccine that is “pan-coronavirus.” I probably shouldn’t be that excited considering the thick shadow of pessimism that always accompanies the coronavirus, but it is great news nonetheless.
Testing is still in the early stages. Only the preclinical phase has been completed. There’s still a phase 2 and 3, which will take a few months, I presume. That normally should be around five years, but we don’t have five years. So everything is working in overdrive.
The super vaccine is super because it will work against all types of coronaviruses and variants; at least, that’s what it should do. One shot of this, and you have immunity against all variants of the coronavirus. The super vaccine was developed by a US Army lab and is a product of 24 months of hard work.
The mechanism of operation is, as you would expect, complicated. I’ll simplify it as much as possible. The vaccine, through reverse engineering, will stimulate the body to make broad neutralizing antibodies (bnAb). These types of antibodies bind to several parts of the virus, not just the spike protein, making it effective even after mutations.
We’re still a long way from seeing them in action, I presume. But the fact they are around the block is good news. Great news, in fact.
Till then, take your vaccine and booster shots. And stay safe.
This article was written by Dr. Adil Manzoor DO, a Board Certified Internist & Board Eligible Pediatrician, who works as a Hospitalist, and Emergency Room Physician. He is also the current President of Garden State Street Medicine, a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to provide free preventive and acute urgent care services for the homeless. He is also the co-founder of his own unique medical practice Mobile Medicine NJ.
References
- https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/army-vaccine-could-protect-against-covid-and-all-future-coronaviruses/
- https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-12-15/the-hunt-for-a-one-shot-coronavirus-vaccine
