If we end the epidemic, COVID-19 will remain with us – at least for now – as an endemic disease. You may have to accept its existence, as it was with HIV, or use periodic vaccinations, says Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Pyrć, head of the Laboratory of Virology at the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University.
PAP: Since the start of mass vaccination against the Sars-Cov-2 virus, have there been any new data on the safety of new preparations?
Prof. Krzysztof Pyrć: Any post-vaccination reactions are monitored all the time, also ultra rare cases of side effects such as thrombosis, myocarditis or Guillain-Barry Syndrome.
Let us remember the scale here; these cases do not even concern a per mil of the vaccinated population, and virtually every product – not only medical, but even food – can potentially harm us. I will return to my favorite comparison of peanuts, which could be treated on the same scale as the monstrous threat. So no, I don’t see any changes in security knowledge at the moment. Vaccines are effective and safe.
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What do you think about childhood immunization?
KP: My opinion is that children and adolescents from 12 years of age should be vaccinated. Although the disease is usually not lethal for this group, sometimes such people also go to the hospital and it is not clear what traces the disease can leave in them. For children between the ages of 5 and 11, we have a Pfizer press release stating that the vaccine is effective and safe. But I am waiting for independent evaluation and recommendation of the European Medicines Agency. It is there that the best specialists will assess, based on actual data, whether the benefits of vaccination still outweigh the risks. I believe that if the vaccine is safe for children, it should be used, like a whole range of other vaccines. The more people are vaccinated, the sooner we get back to normal.
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So to the state before the epidemic. Will it not be that good?
KP: If we extinguish the epidemic, the disease will probably stay with us and will be endemic. At least for now. Maybe it will have to be accepted, as was the case with HIV; maybe there will be periodic vaccinations. The disease will also continue to pose an individual threat for a while, but the pandemic threat to our world should diminish. Of course, we are talking about biology, so no one can predict 100 percent. virus evolution.
And now – how to behave? Should the vaccinated people be careful, wear masks, keep distance?
KP: Vaccinated people should be careful not to hurt the rest. Vaccination reduces the risk of severe disease by more than 90%, and reduces the risk of infection itself by several dozen percent, but this protection decreases over time. We never achieve 100 percent protection, so potentially the vaccinated person can become infected and become ill and, as a result, transmit the virus. Because symptoms are reduced, the body fights the infection faster or reduces it; the risk of infecting another person is reduced but not zero. Therefore, when I am in the company of unvaccinated people, I use a mask and I am very careful. Remember, however, that the vaccine is not a magic shield – it will not always protect us, and especially in the elderly, this protection may decrease over time.
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Germany’s Health Minister recently said that if no vaccine-resistant variant of the virus is produced, the pandemic will be brought under control by next spring. Is it real in your opinion?
KP: There is a good chance for that. There were hopes that the previous COVID-19 season would be the last, but the vaccination rate had dropped to virtually zero. It must therefore be assumed that this season will still be marked by a disease. However, I would like to warn you that due to the fact that the Delta variant has appeared, this year this virus will reach people who previously protected themselves from infection.
Unfortunately, in Poland we have a lot of very high-risk people who have not been vaccinated. If these people become infected, the disease will be a deadly threat to them. On the other hand, vaccinations are likely to start again when the threat becomes more real.
Author: Marek Matacz
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