COMMENT | Addressing ‘anti-vaxxer’ concerns important for nationwide vaccination

COMMENT | Covid-19 vaccination efforts could be thwarted by significant ‘anti-vaxxer’ movement and its roots must be addressed early on. The movement is driven by theories of a man-made virus and vaccination plans that allude to an obscure sinister plot against humanity, as well as the more grounded safety concerns.

First, we start with concerns on novel vaccines whereby there are allegations of vaccines capable of changing people’s DNA as it introduces non-human DNA into our bodies - creating human ‘chimaeras’.

This is likely referring to mRNA vaccines - which is indeed novel - whereby genetic material is delivered to our own cells, and by using the cells’ own machinery, viral proteins can be produced internally to elicit an immune response.

However, when referring to mRNAs (not DNAs), this genetic information is supposedly translated in the cytoplasm (the surrounding ‘space’ outside and around the cell’s nucleus), therefore, theoretically there is no need for mRNAs to enter the cell nucleus. Thus, it may negate the risk of being integrated into the host genome, and therefore, it wouldn’t be a ‘chimaera’ as claimed.

Nevertheless, health officials should consider appointing experts to study the mechanism, the genetic sequence and the resulting proteins it transcribes.

It’s likely that the technology became more widely known in 2015 when The Bill & ...