This is going to be WTLDR for most but will provide some explanations for many questions that I am getting. Feel free to move on if needed. C&P from a colleague:
Can we talk?
This is a biological/medical science lecture. This is NOT a political science or philosophy lecture.
(1) A virus must have a host in order to replicate. It is incapable of self replication.
(2) Every time a virus replicates, mutations can and usually do occur.
(3) Every “host” or human is different and thus responds to a viral infection differently for a multitude of reasons.
(4) The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus has a “spike” protein surface attachment that it uses to attach to a host cell.
(5) The site of attachment on the host cell is the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) protein site.
(6) The reason different hosts exhibit different symptoms with the viral infection is somewhat dependent on how many ACE receptors the host has and thus how many attachment sites there are for the virus.
(7) The reason younger people didn’t become infected or didn’t exhibit symptoms earlier in this pandemic is that they either had fewer ACE receptors or had them higher in their airways. Thus they had lower viral loads.
(8) The Delta variant/mutation has increased affinity for the ACE receptors and thus increased infectivity since it can enter the host cell faster, replicate faster, and thus present with larger viral loads and therefore more contagious.
(9) Vaccines are ways of introducing antigens to a host that stimulate immune responses without causing a serious infection.
(10) There are numerous ways that a vaccine can be manufactured and delivered to a host. They include whole “dead” viruses, parts of the virus, parts of a virus attached to another live “benign” virus, synthetic proteins that mimic the virus, and in the case of mRNA vaccines-a blue print for the host cell to manufacture a viral protein/antigen.
(11) The mRNA does NOT attach to the host DNA, it is only in the host cells for a few minutes if not seconds. It is “read” and then destroyed by enzymes within the host cell. Thus it does NOT become part of the host for some future sinister calamity. mRNA science is far from NEW, it’s decades old and has mainly been used in oncology research. The reason these mRNA vaccines were produced as rapidly as they were was that the vaccine researchers piggybacked on the oncology research and exponentially reduced the production times. The safety of the mRNA vaccines should not be a problem since most vaccine trials enroll 4-5000 patients. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA trials had 40-60000 enrolled patients and have been given to over 2 billion patients to date.
(12) The presence of the mRNA translated protein, the “spike” protein thus stimulates the host to produce antibodies to it.
(13) The antibodies then circulate or lie in wait until they come in contact with the real/live virus. When the antibodies do encounter the virus, they attach to the “spike” protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and thus “neutralizes” it. It does not kill it.
(14) The antibody causes a stereochemical distortion in the spike protein that renders it incapable of attachment to the ACE receptor, but it does NOT kill the virus.
(15) There are still some viral particles in a vaccinated patient’s airway and not ALL the spike proteins on the surfaces of the virus are rendered neutralized, thus a patient could still have minimal symptoms or infect another host.
(16) The more unvaccinated people there are, the more hosts are available for infecting by the virus. The more infections that occur, the more opportunities for the virus to mutate. The more mutations that occur the more likely one of these mutations will overcome the ability of ANY vaccine to be successful.
(17) Herd immunity occurs when enough of a population of hosts are vaccinated/immune that the virus can not find a susceptible patient to infect and thus the virus eventually dies since it cannot replicate. The exact percentage of the population it takes to reach this phenomenon is unknown. Best guess is it is somewhere between 50% and 80%.
(18) Natural immunity can occur after an infection, but the type of antibodies produced are variable and short lived, thus unpredictable. The antibodies produced are to the nuclear capsid proteins and not the spike protein. Thus a virus can still enter the cell and replicate before the hosts recognizes it. This explains recurring infections in some patients. But usually the subsequent infection is less symptomatic than the original.
(19) Some people have stated that production of these mRNA vaccines was too fast and that corners were cut and they give the example that there has been no successful vaccine to the AIDS virus. That argument is baseless since I personally participated in development of an AIDS virus vaccine in the 1980’s and the reason it and all others have been unsuccessful is that the antibodies produced are weak and the T-helper cells that are supposed to give lasting (memory) immunity are killed by the AIDS virus. Thus immunity was achieved but not long lasting.
(20) The death reports that are have been attributed to the vaccines are not reliable. There have been bogus reports of millions of deaths. This is certainly bogus. To date there have been 6400 deaths reported to the “official “ reporting site. NONE of them have been directly proven to be vaccine related. This is out of 340 million doses in the US and over 4.2 billion worldwide. Healthcare providers MUST report ALL deaths within 15 days of a vaccination no matter how the patient died. (This includes car accidents, suicides, and overdoses-they died with the vaccine not necessarily of the vaccine)
(21) Thus hopefully I have convinced more of you that vaccination is important for your health as well as the health of the population as a whole.
(22) Masks are important for the reasons mentioned above, the vaccines are NOT 100% effective and vaccinated patients can still infect others even if they don’t have symptoms. Masks are not a big deal and they may save a life, yours, mine, my granddaughter, your parents, your doctor, or “fill in the blank”.
(23) If you do get sick with COVID-19 whether your vaccinated or not, or just get a positive PCR test if unvaccinated you should insist that you receive the monoclonal cocktail that is available for free and so far underutilized. Request/demand that your provider gives it to you as it is available at nearly 50 sites in state and is free of charge, paid for by the US government. There are criteria such as age , weight, pregnancy, presence of pneumonia and O2 saturation that have to be met but can be waved.
(24) The one aspect of this pandemic that has not received the attention it deserves in my opinion is the stress, strain, and almost devastation of the healthcare system of our country and indeed the world. At this time routine care of patients is suffering, preventative care is being delayed, healthcare providers are being burned out, many providers are leaving the profession altogether, and the care of everyday medical problems are being delayed to the point that serious unnecessary complications are occurring. There are no more beds or providers available for you if you get sick!!
Please for your sake, for my sake, for the sake of your fellow man, get vaccinated and wear a mask in crowded places. The pandemic will end very quickly, within weeks, if we do our part. Thanks and good luck.
Can we talk?
This is a biological/medical science lecture. This is NOT a political science or philosophy lecture.
(1) A virus must have a host in order to replicate. It is incapable of self replication.
(2) Every time a virus replicates, mutations can and usually do occur.
(3) Every “host” or human is different and thus responds to a viral infection differently for a multitude of reasons.
(4) The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus has a “spike” protein surface attachment that it uses to attach to a host cell.
(5) The site of attachment on the host cell is the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) protein site.
(6) The reason different hosts exhibit different symptoms with the viral infection is somewhat dependent on how many ACE receptors the host has and thus how many attachment sites there are for the virus.
(7) The reason younger people didn’t become infected or didn’t exhibit symptoms earlier in this pandemic is that they either had fewer ACE receptors or had them higher in their airways. Thus they had lower viral loads.
(8) The Delta variant/mutation has increased affinity for the ACE receptors and thus increased infectivity since it can enter the host cell faster, replicate faster, and thus present with larger viral loads and therefore more contagious.
(9) Vaccines are ways of introducing antigens to a host that stimulate immune responses without causing a serious infection.
(10) There are numerous ways that a vaccine can be manufactured and delivered to a host. They include whole “dead” viruses, parts of the virus, parts of a virus attached to another live “benign” virus, synthetic proteins that mimic the virus, and in the case of mRNA vaccines-a blue print for the host cell to manufacture a viral protein/antigen.
(11) The mRNA does NOT attach to the host DNA, it is only in the host cells for a few minutes if not seconds. It is “read” and then destroyed by enzymes within the host cell. Thus it does NOT become part of the host for some future sinister calamity. mRNA science is far from NEW, it’s decades old and has mainly been used in oncology research. The reason these mRNA vaccines were produced as rapidly as they were was that the vaccine researchers piggybacked on the oncology research and exponentially reduced the production times. The safety of the mRNA vaccines should not be a problem since most vaccine trials enroll 4-5000 patients. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA trials had 40-60000 enrolled patients and have been given to over 2 billion patients to date.
(12) The presence of the mRNA translated protein, the “spike” protein thus stimulates the host to produce antibodies to it.
(13) The antibodies then circulate or lie in wait until they come in contact with the real/live virus. When the antibodies do encounter the virus, they attach to the “spike” protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and thus “neutralizes” it. It does not kill it.
(14) The antibody causes a stereochemical distortion in the spike protein that renders it incapable of attachment to the ACE receptor, but it does NOT kill the virus.
(15) There are still some viral particles in a vaccinated patient’s airway and not ALL the spike proteins on the surfaces of the virus are rendered neutralized, thus a patient could still have minimal symptoms or infect another host.
(16) The more unvaccinated people there are, the more hosts are available for infecting by the virus. The more infections that occur, the more opportunities for the virus to mutate. The more mutations that occur the more likely one of these mutations will overcome the ability of ANY vaccine to be successful.
(17) Herd immunity occurs when enough of a population of hosts are vaccinated/immune that the virus can not find a susceptible patient to infect and thus the virus eventually dies since it cannot replicate. The exact percentage of the population it takes to reach this phenomenon is unknown. Best guess is it is somewhere between 50% and 80%.
(18) Natural immunity can occur after an infection, but the type of antibodies produced are variable and short lived, thus unpredictable. The antibodies produced are to the nuclear capsid proteins and not the spike protein. Thus a virus can still enter the cell and replicate before the hosts recognizes it. This explains recurring infections in some patients. But usually the subsequent infection is less symptomatic than the original.
(19) Some people have stated that production of these mRNA vaccines was too fast and that corners were cut and they give the example that there has been no successful vaccine to the AIDS virus. That argument is baseless since I personally participated in development of an AIDS virus vaccine in the 1980’s and the reason it and all others have been unsuccessful is that the antibodies produced are weak and the T-helper cells that are supposed to give lasting (memory) immunity are killed by the AIDS virus. Thus immunity was achieved but not long lasting.
(20) The death reports that are have been attributed to the vaccines are not reliable. There have been bogus reports of millions of deaths. This is certainly bogus. To date there have been 6400 deaths reported to the “official “ reporting site. NONE of them have been directly proven to be vaccine related. This is out of 340 million doses in the US and over 4.2 billion worldwide. Healthcare providers MUST report ALL deaths within 15 days of a vaccination no matter how the patient died. (This includes car accidents, suicides, and overdoses-they died with the vaccine not necessarily of the vaccine)
(21) Thus hopefully I have convinced more of you that vaccination is important for your health as well as the health of the population as a whole.
(22) Masks are important for the reasons mentioned above, the vaccines are NOT 100% effective and vaccinated patients can still infect others even if they don’t have symptoms. Masks are not a big deal and they may save a life, yours, mine, my granddaughter, your parents, your doctor, or “fill in the blank”.
(23) If you do get sick with COVID-19 whether your vaccinated or not, or just get a positive PCR test if unvaccinated you should insist that you receive the monoclonal cocktail that is available for free and so far underutilized. Request/demand that your provider gives it to you as it is available at nearly 50 sites in state and is free of charge, paid for by the US government. There are criteria such as age , weight, pregnancy, presence of pneumonia and O2 saturation that have to be met but can be waved.
(24) The one aspect of this pandemic that has not received the attention it deserves in my opinion is the stress, strain, and almost devastation of the healthcare system of our country and indeed the world. At this time routine care of patients is suffering, preventative care is being delayed, healthcare providers are being burned out, many providers are leaving the profession altogether, and the care of everyday medical problems are being delayed to the point that serious unnecessary complications are occurring. There are no more beds or providers available for you if you get sick!!
Please for your sake, for my sake, for the sake of your fellow man, get vaccinated and wear a mask in crowded places. The pandemic will end very quickly, within weeks, if we do our part. Thanks and good luck.
