COVID-19 vaccines showing promise; some health care workers are willing to take them – Index-Journal

Vaccines are being developed for COVID-19 and at least one local doctor says hes willing to roll up his sleeve and take one.

Dr. Kevin Rust, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Greenwood Ear Nose and Throat Center, 1015 Spring St., says hes willing to be in the first group of health care workers who gets the vaccine here.

If it takes the health care staff standing up to say, We believe this is safe. Then, we need to be the example, Rust said.

Rust said everything hes read about development of these COVID-19 vaccines leads him to believe they are safe.

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are developing vaccines. If cleared, these two will be among the first vaccines using messenger RNA technology. A trial for a third COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca is also showing promise.

Dr. Matt Logan, emergency medicine specialist and chief medical officer and vice president of medical affairs at Self Regional Medical Center, said Monday, Were expecting to have some limited supplies of vaccine distributed to Self Regional sometime in December. Probably the second or third week. As of today, we dont know how much we will get. A lot of that is dictated by DHEC, when we will get vaccine and how it will be distributed. Self Regional is approved to be a designated vaccination site for COVID-19.

Logan said Self Regionals distribution plan will be very dependent on the volume of vaccine received.

If, for example, we get 100 doses, our plan will be a lot different than if we get 4,000 doses of vaccine, Logan said. The South Carolina Hospital Association in conjunction with the South Carolina Medical Association are working with DHEC and have guidelines on a phased approach to distribute in the event of limited quantities of vaccine. ... We dont know that we will get enough to administer to everyone who is a health care worker.

So-called mission critical health care providers would be first priorities in the event of a limited supply of vaccine being received, Logan said.

For example, nurses, respiratory therapists, other staff in the intensive care units and on our floors that take care of COVID-19 patients and our emergency department, would be at the top of the list, Logan said. Theres never before been an mRNA vaccine to be distributed in such a mass way before.

A few weeks ago, Logan said Self Regional surveyed personnel to gauge initial interest in a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Ive asked a variety of people about what their vaccine hesitancies might be, Logan said. Some have indicated that they would not want to take the vaccine right away if it might be better for someone closer to the front lines someone taking care of COVID-19 patients every day to receive it before they do.

Logan said its likely that the Pfizer vaccine will be the first to receive emergency use authorization in the United States through the FDA, followed by the Moderna one.

Both of those are two-shot series, Logan said of the Pfizer and Moderna versions. We dont know how much we are going to get or when we will get a vaccine, but we will be ready when a vaccine does get here.

Logan said Self Regional has partnered with Greenwood Genetic Center, allowing the hospital to use some of GGCs deep freezers to store vaccines when available.

If we are going to stem the tide of COVID-19, I truly think that a vaccine is key to that, Logan said. When it is available to the community at large, we will definitely encourage everyone who is eligible to get it. I certainly will get it and my family will get it.

Rust is on board with these new vaccines and heres why

A normal (more traditional) vaccine is either a dead virus or an inactivated virus, Rust said. The virus has to be grown in a host model, normally chicken eggs. Then, they have to purify it and mass produce it. Its a long time to make that happen.

But, with the mRNA, machines can replicate quickly the necessary genetic blueprint to direct production of the coronavirus spike protein.

The body starts making copies of the coronavirus spikes and then the body makes antibodies against the spikes, Rust said. Youre getting the blueprint for the part of the virus the bodys going to react to to make the antibodies against it. ... Everything I read about this says this is more effective than a normal vaccine and safer than a normal vaccine.

Traditional vaccinedevelopment vs. this new technology

Greenwood Genetic Center Director of Research Richard Steet said traditional vaccines are viruses that have been inactivated.

It is recognized by your immune system and your immune system generates antibodies that essentially protect you if you run into the real virus, Steet said. What people have realized is that you dont need the full virus that you would find in nature to generate an immune response. What you really need is a certain protein on the surface of the virus, ... the spike protein. ... That spike protein, if you can make antibodies to it, is what will protect you from the real virus.

Steet said mRNA or messenger RNA is genetic information your body can use to make the spike protein.

When your body makes the spike protein of the COVID virus, it immediately is recognized as foreign and your immune system mounts its response, Steet said.

Steet said its faster to make mRNA vaccines than ones from inactivated viruses.

The most encouraging thing is that research is showing that your body mounts and appropriate and protective immune response no matter what version you go with, Steet said.

With the mRNA vaccines, the body just makes one protein, not the full virus, Steet said.

Since its RNA, its not capable of being integrated into your genome, Steet said. No one knows how long the protective effect is going to last. With things like the measles, its presumably a lifetime protection, but we dont know if that will be the case with COVID-19...But, if this mRNA platform works, wed be able to very quickly figure out how it mutated and change the coding sequence and basically have a new vaccine, (similar to the way new flu vaccines are developed for each flu season.) Its an arms race and we have to keep up with the way the virus changes.

Steet said Greenwood Genetic Center does have freezer capacity to store vaccines that need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures.

If the mRNA vaccines do receive emergency use authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks, vaccines could potentially already be distributed to communities and immunizations can begin with the necessary FDA authorization.

I think thats brilliant, Rust said. It will already be where it needs to be instead of having to do logistics after the fact. ... The fact that we could have the vaccine in Greenwood, South Carolina, waiting on approval, so we can use it, I think thats amazing.

However, Rust said, if the vaccines dont receive emergency use authorization, vaccines would have to be discarded.

Tens of thousands of people have been in clinical trials for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

I want this to be over with, Rust said. If me rolling my sleeve up and convincing my community that its safe to roll their sleeves up, its worth doing...I think its well thought out and I think its safe. As soon as its offered to me, Im going to stand up and go get it...The flu is contagious, but not like this. ... The heroes are not the somebodys willing to roll their sleeves up for a vaccine...Whats special are the folks day in and day out who are taking care of people with COVID-19.

To learn more about novel coronavirus, statistics, vaccines and more, visit: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

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COVID-19 vaccines showing promise; some health care workers are willing to take them - Index-Journal