WE are now witnessing what a worldwide pandemic can do, with countless deaths, not to mention the long term damage to those who survive.

Vaccines are our only way out. We are now learning more about this virus and how our body mounts a defense against it with every passing day.

A study led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with Public Health England found that antibodies against the virus were three-and-a-half times higher in those who had the second shot of the vaccine after 12 weeks compared with those who had it after a three-week interval.

Most people who have both shots of the vaccine will be well protected regardless of the timing, but the stronger response from the extra delay might prolong protection because antibody levels naturally wane over time. This was found for both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines.

We know that all vaccines currently in the market target the spike protein of SARS CoV2 regardless of the platform used.

We also know that the primary vaccine shot (first dose) from the majority of the vaccines gives an initial protection of more than 60 per cent. This for sure prevents the development of serious complications/hospitalisations and even death.

POSTPONEMENT OF SECOND DOSES

I understand that there are many logistical hurdles that we have to bypass before getting our share of the vaccines, but the government should consider redeployment of the remainder of the vaccines that we have to states which show high spikes of new infection without utilising them for second doses.

This will buy us some time (3 months) and ease the burden of mortality/ development of severe disease that we are currently overwhelmed with.

There is also data showing that vaccinating people with both the Oxford–AstraZeneca and Pfizer–BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines produces a potent immune response against SARS-CoV-2, better than two doses of the same vaccine.

Although this is preliminary, it perfectly makes sense from basic immunology. We are giving our immune system (memory cells) different snapshots of the spike so that it can better generate a potent antibody against it. I hope our government will give this consideration too. If at all there are discrepancies in the number of vaccines procured, this might be a really useful strategy considering the limited number of vaccines available, pending clinical trials data.

VACCINE EDUCATION

This is an important aspect of our fight against Covid-19. It is unfortunate that there are those instilling doubts about the pandemic and the efficacy of vaccines via social media platforms which attract thousands of viewers. I hope the government takes a harder stance against these people who are spreading misinformation. There has to be a more concentrated effort from everyone (religious leaders, educators, healthcare providers, politicians, everyone! ) to fight misinformation.

I also strongly feel there is a need to include a newer generation of virologists, microbiologists and epidemiologists into a national pandemic preparedness council or committee.

Covid-19 is not going to be the last pandemic and there are many new generations of scientists with better/innovative/out-of-the-box thinking and I believe they can certainly complement the senior ones who are already advising the government.

Currently, there is a lack of coordination between governmental agencies to come up with better solutions against pandemics.

What we need is constant surveillance given the many up and coming zoonotic diseases - the recent spill of the H5N8 virus to humans being one such example.

*The writer is a molecular virologist from Monash University Malaysia. He was previously working as a virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital New York.

https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/heal/2021/06/697416/vaccination-way-out