Dr. Jon LaPook shares his experience getting the coronavirus vaccine

I’m a NYU Langone Health practitioner, so today Pfizer vaccine SARS-CoV-2 against the causative virus COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears..

In addition to seeing patients in my office, as a gastroenterologist, I perform steps that may expose me to aerosolized viruses.

This was me in the COVID ward last April and was stunned by the devastation.

Now I’m surprised — and excited — that the vaccine was developed in less than a year.I know some people have been postponed by term Operation Warp Speed This is because of concerns that the vaccine may be developed too early. However, the record time between the release of the SARS-CoV-2 gene sequence and the start of Phase 1 safety trials was achieved due to studies decades before the development of the so-called “vaccine platform.” ..

Interview with the Director of the National Institutes of Health on December 15th Dr. Francis Collins, And he gave me an easy-to-understand analogy of these platforms. Imagine a factory that makes some kind of widget. “Once you understand how to make a widget really well, you can change the design a bit and make another widget, but it’s very fast because we already have an assembly line. It’s like us. We do it on these vaccine platforms. “

Vaccines against COVID are being developed at record speeds, but this is not a sudden leap to the point where the time required to develop a vaccine gradually diminishes.

According to the National Institutes of Health, it took 20 months in 2003 from the selection of the SARS virus gene sequence that was circulating at the time to the first human injection of the vaccine. The 2006 H5N1 (bird flu) shortened that period to 11 months. H1N1 (swine flu) took 4 months, Zika, 3.25 months.With Modern vaccine The SARS-CoV-2 sequence was posted for COVID-19 on January 10, with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Moderna starting work on January 11, and production on January 14. Initiated in, Phase 1 trials began on March 16, 2020 — just about two months after the virus sequence was known. What a scientific tour de force!

Operation Warp Speed ​​began on May 15 and helped speed up testing of vaccine candidates by breaking bureaucratic formalism, but the public health authorities I trust Dr. Anthony Fauci, I assured me that the corners were not cut.confirmed Presented data At a public meeting of the FDA Advisory Board, which reviewed the emergency use authorization requirements for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, I found that the benefits of these vaccines far outweigh the risks, based on the current scientific evidence available. I agree with the decision. Pfizer vaccine Individuals over the age of 16 were licensed, and individuals over the age of 18 were licensed at Moderna.

Researchers are doing some serious research Allergic reaction So far, about 1 in 45,000 people have been vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine, and we plan to pay attention to other unexpected side effects in the future. It is premature to know the exact incidence of these reactions. This morning I contacted Dr. Forch for insights into allergic reactions and he sent me a text message: “One of my departments here at NIAID is planning a study to investigate all of this, including incidence and mechanisms.”

For me, the benefits of being protected far outweigh the very unlikely risk of serious side effects.

Vaccination felt exactly like getting a flu shot. I felt a little pinch, but I’m still fine after 2 hours. It’s not a big problem.

What I felt most was a mixture of emotions — everything is good. When I started explaining my feelings about the camera on CBS News, I was surprised with tears. The weight of all these months has caught up with me, coupled with the tense work of caring for patients, trying to keep myself, loved ones, friends and many others safe, and reporting on pandemics. think.

I think it’s still difficult to achieve with adequate vaccination, but I felt a flood of relief. Herd immunity.. I was grateful that the vaccine became available less than a year after I realized that there was a new coronavirus.

And I was surprised at the scientific results. I logically know about decades of research that led to vaccination. Understand how a small genetic code (messenger RNA) hidden in protective lipid nanoparticles can generate immunity to SARS-CoV-2 by tricking the immune system into thinking that it is being attacked by a virus. I will. But some of me see this amazing achievement as pure magic.