1: VACCINE MAY NOT WORK FOR FAT PEOPLE?
Come on Pfizer, you’re in the business of manufacturing and trading pharmaceuticals not selling or initiating trends for content marketing. How could this possibly be a statement you’d think to put out to the public? Care to explain? All of these and more were the thoughts flying about in my head when I heard of this news and when I read about them, I had no choice but to come to the conclusion that as I always say, life is nothing but a pot of well-seasoned, slow-cooked, honey beans, because what exactly is going on?
It turns out that the Italian researchers are the ones who made the claim that the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine may be less effective in people with obesity. And they claim to have the science to back it up or so it seems. Their previous research has suggested that obesity – which is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30 – increases the risk of dying of Covid-19 by nearly 50 per cent, as well as increasing the risk of ending up in hospital by 113 per cent; which they explain here.
The study, after being carried out by them, showed that the obese healthcare workers who received the coronavirus vaccine were not able to produce as many antibodies as their healthy peers. The researchers said that healthcare workers with obesity produced only about half the amount of antibodies in response to a second dose of the jab.
In essence, researchers are technically saying if you want the vaccine to work for you as an obese or fat person, you should seriously consider losing some weight. However, whether this should be considered as fat-shaming is still under works because the scientists claim to still be considering whether to give obese people an extra dosage as well as a variety of other options. While the study still has to be peer-reviewed, the researchers have, however, said that the data might imply that people with obesity need an additional booster dose to ensure they are adequately protected against the virus. They noted that a previous study had suggested that obesity increased the risk of dying by coronavirus by nearly 50 percent as well as increasing the risk of ending up in the hospital by 113 per cent. They added that this may be because people with obesity often have other underlying conditions such as heart diseases or type 2 diabetes that increase their risk of contracting the coronavirus.
It is scary that inclusive of the numerous health risks that come with being obese like diabetes, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart failure and a number of others, obese people have to worry about the Covid-19 vaccine not being effective on them. How would you take it if you were obese? We would love to have your take on this.
2: JOHNSON & JOHNSON COVID-19 VACCINE: THINGS TO NOTE
Regardless of how scary the reality of the Covid19 pandemic is, we try our best to remain calm, stable and rest assured because we have a brightly shining rainbow at the end of our pandemic tunnel; which is the production, dispensation and availability of the much-needed vaccine.
However, with this discovery, there is still much to contend with such as the different brands involved in the production and dissemination process. Also, whether or not competing brands might have variants in terms of product quality. A good example is the Johnson Johnson vaccine which was recently approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19.
Now, the dissemination of the Johnson and Johnson one-shot vaccine for adults, which was another major step towards vaccinating millions of people across the country, has been temporarily paused. Although its single-dose and easy-to-store logistic advantages make it an attractive option, it’s important for us to understand why there was a recent pause in the vaccine administration as a result of a rare brain blood clot combined with low platelets—cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS). These adverse effects were identified through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which is jointly managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA. In nearly 8 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine administered through April, the FDA and CDC reviewed data involving 15 reported cases in the U.S. of cerebral TTS in people receiving the vaccination. Most were in women between 18 and 48, with symptoms developing six to 13 days after vaccination.
The pause has, however, been lifted and the J&J Janssen vaccine is recommended for those 18 or older under an amended FDA emergency use authorisation, which includes additional warnings and precautions, especially for women under 50. That said, we’d like you to note a few things.
Firstly, unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not use messenger RNA (mRNA) to help the body build its defences against the virus. Instead, it is an andenovikely because those countries had more easily transmissible coronavirus variants circulating at the time.
Across all regions where it was tested, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85 per cent effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19 at 28 days after vaccination. There were no cases of severe disease reported after Day 49 of the trials.
Instead, they added the gene for the coronavirus’s signature spike protein to an adenovirus, a common virus that causes cold or flu-like symptoms. The adenovirus was modified so it can enter cells but can’t replicate or cause illness.
Also, this Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been shown to be 72 per cent effective against moderate to severe COVID-19 infections in a clinical trial in the United States. It, however, has shown less effectiveness in Latin America (66%) and South Africa (57%). If we’re being honest, it’s rather troubling, to say the least. But official reports state that this is most likely because those countries had more easily transmissible coronavirus variants circulating at the time.
On a good note, it is safe to say that across all regions where it was tested, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85 per cent effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19 at 28 days after vaccination. Luckily for us, this good news doesn’t end there. This is because there were no cases of severe disease reported after Day 49 of the trials, which goes on to show the high rate of efficacy of the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.