MILWAUKEE — After a massive global scientific effort, distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is now underway.
Over 10,000 high-priority Wisconsinites have gotten their shots as of Monday, according to the Department of Health Services. And, with 100,000 Moderna doses starting to arrive in the state, we’ll soon have shots for more of the health care workers and long-term care residents at the front of the line.
As the shots make their way into arms across the state, we answer some frequently asked questions about just how these vaccines work, and what to expect when it’s your turn.
How do the mRNA vaccines work?
Scientists have been working for decades to harness mRNA technology, but the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines — which are now being administered across the U.S. — are the first mRNA drugs to win authorization.
The basic idea behind an mRNA vaccine is the same as in other shots: Trick the body into thinking it’s under attack so that it ramps up an immune defense. That way, if you do eventually run into the real virus, your immune system will be primed and ready to fight off the now-familiar invader.
Other vaccines pull off this trick by injecting a weakened or dead version of a virus. But the mRNA vaccines get around this by telling the body’s own cells to produce an identifiable piece of the coronavirus: Its signature spike protein.
The Pfizer and Moderna shots contain custom-made pieces of messenger RNA, the genetic “instructions” that tell our cells how to build proteins. In this case, those instructions are for a part of the distinctive SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. So, when cells absorb this mRNA, they start pumping out spike proteins that match the ones on the virus’s surface.
On their own, these proteins are harmless. But they can effectively serve as target practice for the immune system, activating the antibodies, T-cells, and B-cells that protect the body.
Can the vaccine give me COVID-19?
Nope. The vaccines don’t actually contain the live virus that causes COVID-19 — so it’s impossible for the shot itself to give you an infection.
It does take some time for the body to build up immunity after you get the vaccine, as the Mayo Clinic explains. So, if you develop COVID-19 right after getting vaccinated, it’s probably because you were infected by someone else right before or after you got the shot — not as a result of the shot itself.
The vaccines do have some side effects. However, such reactions are a result of your body kicking its immune response into gear. They’re not symptoms of a COVID-19 infection.
Can the vaccine change my DNA?
No — this is another myth, experts say.
The mRNA from these shots doesn’t stick around in the body for very long. Soon after your cells get the instructions on how to build spike proteins, they break down the mRNA, leaving no permanent trace, as the CDC explains.
And within the cells, the section that houses your genetic material (the nucleus) is closed off from the tiny “factories” that build the spike proteins (the ribosomes). So, the mRNA from the shots doesn’t even touch your DNA — let alone change it.
“[The mRNA] doesn’t go into the part of the cell that has your DNA in it, so it's not creating COVID-19 inside of you, it's not interacting with your DNA,” Ashok Rai, president and CEO of Prevea Health, told Spectrum News 1. “It is creating a protein that your body will recognize as foreign and, more importantly, remember that response.”
Are there side effects?
So far, many people who get the COVID-19 vaccines have reported some short-term side effects.
Common reactions include some soreness and swelling in the arm where you got the shot, plus the potential for fever, chills, fatigue, and headaches, according to the CDC.
These reactions are not a sign that something has gone wrong, though. In fact, they’re a sign that the vaccines are doing what they’re supposed to.
“What is happening is your immune system is responding,” immunology expert Patsy Stinchfield said at a Poynter webinar this month. “It sees the bad guy, it's making the good guys. And that sort of feeling, that there's something happening in your body, is to be expected.”
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines seem to produce stronger side effects than we see with other common vaccines, like flu shots. Still, while the effects may be a bit uncomfortable, they generally go away quickly (within a couple of days) and are “far, far, far better than having COVID,” Stinchfield said.
There have been a handful of more severe allergic reactions reported from the Pfizer shots — which some scientists think could be related to a compound in the mRNA’s “packaging.” The FDA is looking into five reactions across the country, according to The Hill, and is planning a larger study to figure out vaccine safety in people with a history of allergies.
For now, the CDC recommends that if you’ve had an allergic reaction to an injection in the past, you should consult your doctor before getting the COVID-19 vaccine. If you’re allergic to other things, like food or pets, you should still be fine to get the shots, the CDC says.
The U.S. has multiple systems in place to monitor whether any serious side effects crop up as vaccination becomes more widespread.
But experts caution that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions over cases that sound scary if they may just be isolated incidents. After all, when we’re trying to get shots out to people all over the world, some individuals are bound to face health issues — but that doesn’t mean these are always related to the vaccine.
“My biggest concern is, as we roll this out across the country, there will be bumps in the road. There will be people who will get vaccinated and shortly thereafter die, or get a disease, or cancer,” Stinchfield says. “And that, unfortunately, people will jump to cause and effect. There's always a backdrop of life.”
Is there a difference between the Moderna and Pfizer shots?
The major distinction comes down to storage. While Pfizer’s doses have to be kept at an extremely cold -94 degrees Fahrenheit, the Moderna shots are stable at -4 Fahrenheit — around the temperature of a regular freezer. After thawing, Moderna’s vaccine can be stable at a refrigerated temperature for 30 days.
The companies are secretive about their specific formulas, as NPR explains, so it’s hard to say for sure why there’s a difference in temperature. It may have to do with the vaccines’ lipid nanoparticles — the oily shells that cover the mRNA strands — or Pfizer may just be extra cautious in its guidance.
Either way, the difference is affecting how the two shots are distributed.
In Wisconsin, the Pfizer vaccine is getting sent out using a “hub and spoke” model, according to the DHS: Large batches are sent to central storage facilities that have ultracold storage equipment, which pass along smaller shipments to other clinics. The Moderna vaccine, on the other hand, gets sent directly to vaccinators.
Otherwise, the vaccines appear quite similar so far. Both showed high efficacy rates in clinical trials: 95% for Pfizer’s and 94% for Moderna’s. Both require two doses to establish the immune response, at slightly different intervals — three weeks for Pfizer’s and four weeks for Moderna’s.
The vaccines do have different dosage levels: Pfizer’s shots contain 30 micrograms of vaccine, while Moderna’s contain 100 micrograms. But the results, at least from the data we have now, have been comparable.
What if I already had COVID-19?
For those who already caught and recovered from coronavirus, the vaccine may still prove useful.
As the experts at Dear Pandemic explain, though recovered COVID-19 patients have some protection, that natural immunity can vary a lot. We’re not sure how long natural immunity lasts, and we’ve already seen that reinfections are possible, if uncommon.
The COVID-19 vaccines are much more standardized, and trials show that they produce effective immune protection in the vast majority of people. So, even if previously infected patients aren’t high on the priority list, vaccinating them can still provide a boost to their immune response.
"Our goal in this case is to definitely do better than natural immunity," immunology expert Barney Graham told Inside Science of the vaccines.
Can kids get the vaccine?
So far, the Pfizer vaccine is only authorized for those ages 16 and up, while the Moderna vaccine is authorized for adults 18 and up.
There’s no reason to believe the vaccine is unsafe for kids, experts say. We just don’t have enough data yet, since the first clinical trials focused on adult populations.
More studies are expected in the coming months to test that the vaccine is safe and effective in children, likely starting from slightly older kids and working down to younger age groups. Moderna has already started enrolling trial participants in the 12- to 17-year-old group, the AP reports.
In a CNN kids’ town hall this weekend, infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said these studies should be getting underway in January.
“Hopefully, within a few months, we’ll be able to tell children what I know we’ll be able to say: The vaccine is safe and effective in you, and we’re anxious to get you vaccinated,” Fauci said. “So just hang in there a couple more months, and we’ll be in good shape.”