, the government effort to fast-track coronavirus vaccines, has lived up to its name.
A new vaccine for a new disease is here in record time, and
The was the first out of the gate.
is chief of medicine at University Hospitals and led the Pfizer vaccine trial in Cleveland.
鈥淚t was one of the most highly scrutinized clinical trials I鈥檝e been involved with, and I鈥檝e been doing this for 30 years,鈥� he said.
Despite the rush for approval, Salata believes the excitement surrounding the rollout of the new vaccines is well earned.
鈥淧eople worry that Operation Warp Speed might be cutting corners and things like that and that鈥檚 far from the case,鈥� he said.
Salata says the safety trials in Cleveland will continue for two years to gauge long-term immunity and track any possible long-term side effects in participants.
How do the new vaccines work?
The Pfizer vaccine, and one from , which will arrive soon, are new technologies that use mRNA, or . It鈥檚 a common and naturally occurring chemical.
鈥淲e all have messenger RNA in our bodies, in all of our cells,鈥� Salata said.
Dr. David Canaday is one of the researchers running trials of the Pfizer vaccine at the Cleveland VA hospital.
He says the vaccine鈥檚 mRNA is encapsulated inside a fatty droplet, a lipid nanoparticle, which melds with our cell membranes, also made of lipids, and delivers the RNA into the cell.
鈥淚t goes into the muscle of your arm and gets picked up in a very small number of cells. It doesn鈥檛 go all over the place in your body, and it causes the body to make a small amount of protein,鈥� Canaday said.
The vaccine tricks our cells into making the spike proteins that dot the surface of the virus like a crown (corona in Latin).
The spike is the key the virus uses to unlock entrance into our cells, and target that protein.
Canaday says the mRNA from the vaccine is transient.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 stick around in your body. It does its brief little time where it makes this spike protein and then it dissolves away,鈥� he said.
Cells that have taken up the viral RNA churn out spike proteins, which are recognized by our immune system as something to fight.
Other for protection against future viral infection.
Both mRNA vaccines require booster shots three or four weeks after the first dose.
Ohio is set to receive around 600,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. These are going first to frontline health workers and people in nursing homes.
It will be months before becomes available to the general public, and by then, it鈥檚 likely not to be the mRNA type.
So, what other vaccines are in the pipeline?
Operation Warp Speed funded two other types.
One, made by , also had clinical trials in Cleveland.
It uses a very different mechanism. A delivers the RNA for the spike protein into our cells.
Salata explains that this "viral vector" cannot make you sick.
鈥淚t鈥檚 attenuated to the point where it doesn鈥檛 replicate in human cells, but it鈥檚 a large virus and you can put within it the genetic material for the spike protein,鈥� he said.
Early results show that it works ... pretty well, an average of 70% effectiveness.
is head of clinical research at University Hospitals.
鈥淭he AstraZeneca looks 鈥� effective," she said. "It induces a very strong , which is the more lasting immunity.鈥�
She鈥檚 cautiously optimistic about the AstraZeneca vaccine.
鈥淚 feel like people are a little more worried about it, that we need to see more data, longer term data,鈥� she acknowledged.
A similar, single-dose vaccine is being developed by .
The two other federally funded vaccines are from and .
They use yet another mechanism, introducing fragments of the spike protein itself, along with an immune booster.
You really don't get to choose
Approval of all these other vaccines is .
When comes to get vaccinated, you鈥檙e not really given a choice of what kind to take, but McComsey says, that's OK.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care which manufacturer, as long as I know you鈥檙e giving me something that was FDA approved, proven to be safe," she said. "That鈥檚 what matters in the end.鈥�
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