Some people wonder if they should get vaccinated for COVID-19. We would like to share 9 reasons people give for not getting vaccinated. You may be worried about vaccines, vaccine mandates, and Pfizer’s approval for vaccinating children 5 years and up.
Two of us taught in Oʻahu public schools (S & P), two of us grew up on Oʻahu (A & P). We share everyone’s desire to join friends and family to share food, music, laughter, love, and hugs.
We just want everyone in Hawaiʻi to live happy and healthy lives.
Stefan Moisyadi, Institute for Biogenesis Research
Alika Maunakea, Biomedical Epigenomics
Pauline Chinn, Curriculum Studies
THE PACIFIC ALLIANCE AGAINST COVID-19, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA
Vaccine Resistance: Nine reasons people give for not getting vaccinated with mRNA vaccines
Reasons given for not getting vaccinated with mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna)
1) I don’t trust the government.
2) I think that natural immunity is just as good as vaccine immunity.
3) I think the vaccine is "experimental" and not proven scientifically.
4) I think the vaccine has side effects that may be more dangerous than the disease.
5) I think messenger RNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna can cause cancer.
6) I think the vaccines will modify my genome.
7) I think the vaccines will affect my reproductive ability.
8) I think I might get COVID-19 from the vaccine itself.
9) I think the government will insert a tracking chip into me.
Let’s address them one at a time.
No. 1 I don’t trust the government.
This is the most difficult argument to counter.
Why should people in Hawaiʻi trust the government?
This has not always gone well for everyone in Hawaiʻi.
However, we trust the government for certain things like the fire department, life guards, 911, and emergency services.
The US government puts a lot of money into services; are vaccines worth it?
Education
Social Security
Infrastructure
Public Health
$18-23 billion went into developing COVID-19 vaccines. Was it worth it?
In Hawaii, 90% of COVID-19 hospital patients are unvaccinated, reducing health services to others.
Nationally, COVID-19 hospitalization costs billions of $ with average cost around $20,000.
By Nov. 3, 2022, more than 1 million had died. The U.S. has 4% of world population but 15% of COVID deaths.
In 2020 average U.S. life span dropped by 1.5 years, the most since WWII, 2/3 due to COVID-19.
No. 2 I think that natural immunity is just as good as vaccine immunity
NO, the virus must take over your cells’ nucleus to cause natural COVID-19. You have an 80% chance of being a COVID "long-hauler," with trouble breathing, brain fog, headache, fatigue, even hair loss months after active virus can’t be detected.
Natural immunity does not protect you from variants like delta and omicron.
Good news! mRNA vaccines protect against delta and omicron variants. Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are 10-11 times higher for those not fully vaccinated.
Even a healthy lifestyle CANNOT protect you against this contagious virus.
Do you know a healthy young person who got sick with COVID-19?
No. 3 I think the COVID-19 vaccine is "experimental" and not proven scientifically.
FALSE– All vaccines undergo U.S. Food & Drug Administration extensive safety testing before receiving emergency authorization.
Pfizer’s Phase 3 trial involved 46,331 volunteers in Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Germany and U.S. Pfizer and Moderna are approved for children 6 months and older and boosters of mRNA vaccines are advised.
Pfizer (and Moderna) received FDA approval after tests showed their vaccines were 95% effective against COVID-19 with only minor side effects. Phase 4 trials continue to check on long-term safety.
Hear from Hawaii’s doctors, get the FAQs, and ask questions about vaccines at the COVID-19 portal.
Messenger RNA is a type of RNA used in protein production. The bits of spike protein mRNA in vaccines never enter the nucleus thus cannot alter DNA. It just programs the cellular factory outside the nucleus make pieces of spike protein then breaks down.
“Unvaccinated Americans account for virtually all recent covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Each covid-19 death is tragic, and those happening now are even more tragic because they are preventable.”
Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus coordinator
No. 4. I think the vaccine has side effects that may be more dangerous than the disease.
Serious side effects are rare. No deaths directly due to the mRNA vaccines have been reported.
If you hear about deaths after vaccinations
without evidence that one caused the other,
you mistake correlation for causation.
Image: Towards Data Science: Correlation is not causation.
Most common side effects from Moderna and Pfizer vaccines: pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever starting within 2 days of vaccination and ending after 1-2 days.
Vaccination protects you from getting COVID-19.
Side effects are normal signs that your body is building protection.
No. 5 I think messenger RNA vaccines like
Pfizer and Moderna can cause cancer.
In our daily lives we risk exposure to carcinogens that can enter the nucleus and affect the DNA in our cells. In fact around 8% of human DNA comes from viruses such as chicken pox.
Known carcinogens to watch out for in our daily lives include
tobacco, processed meats, crispy browned foods, ultraviolet radiation, and air pollution.
No scientific model or evidence shows mRNA vaccines ever enter our cells’ nucleus to cause cancer.
No. 6 I think the vaccines will modify my genome
No. It is also why the vaccine CANNOT give you cancer. mRNA in the vaccines NEVER enters the nucleus, that part of the cell containing your genetic material. It just does its job then disappears.
Natural mRNA is labile, meaning it can be destroyed by attacks from RNases and other compounds.
So the vaccine uses an in-vitro (not made in cells) modified mRNA to make it more stable.
Biochemists, like kids playing with LEGO® blocks, added a methyl group (CH3) to Pseudouridine naturally found in tRNA.
More stability means it works longer to make pieces of the spike protein to activate our immune system.
Pseudouridine
1-methylpseudouridine
This creates 1-methylpseudouridine, used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
How do mRNA vaccines work?
1) Vaccine with modified mRNA is injected into your arm. Pieces of spike protein (antigen) are made in your muscle cells.
4) Activated Plasma B cells release antibodies. Memory B cells remember the antigenic sites and keep up the defenses. Over time, antibodies decrease so we need booster shots.
5) Antibodies recognize and attack the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, stopping it from attaching to our cells. But viruses mutate.
What happens when I get vaccinated?
2) Pieces of spike protein (antigens) are shown to T and B immune cells outside the muscle cell.
6) “Variants of concern” are mutated viruses that “look different” and slip past our antibody protectors. This causes ‘breakthrough” infections.
3) Antigenic sites on pieces of spike protein activate T and B cells.
Mutations in the virus that reduce recognition lead to “variants of concern.” The delta variant is behind the increase of COVID-19 infections in unvaccinated people and breakthroughs in fully vaccinated people.
Over 90% of hospitalized COVID-19 cases are among unvaccinated people.
The video below shows how antibodies block the virus’ spike protein from attaching to our cell’s receptor. If it can’t attach, it can’t cause COVID-19.
The video above shows how antibodies protect us like highly trained ninja warriors.
Vaccines train our body’s T and B cells to recognize and react quickly to resist infection by specific foreign invaders like the virus causing COVID-19.
Many different antibodies can be made from one antigen protein, such as the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
No. 7 I think the vaccines will affect my reproductive ability
mRNA vaccines DO NOT enter the nucleus and cannot affect our genes.
The immune response occurs in muscle cells where the vaccine is injected.
Getting vaccinated PROTECTS your reproductive ability.
No. 8 I think I might get COVID-19 from the vaccine itself
Pieces of the spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus are used to prepare mRNA vaccines so it is impossible to get infected by the vaccine.
You risk getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 or its variants if you are not vaccinated.
Delta, omicron and variants of concern are more infectious or dangerous than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The (M) protein turns cellular membranes into workshops where virus and host factors come together to make new virus particles.
The CoV envelope (E) protein is a membrane protein involved in the virus’ assembly, budding, and development of disease.
The S (Spike) protein is a large protein.
The SARS-CoV-2 spike attaches to the ACE2 receptor of your cell.
Bits of the spike protein in mRNA vaccines trigger your immune system to protect you.
SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus
No. 9 I think the government will insert a tracking chip into me
A doctor in Siberia inserted 3 tracking chips in his hands as keys to the intercom system in his hospital, his work pass, and his ATM card. One in his wrist stores contact details and sends them to his mobile phone. The chips are encased in glass tubes which are injected under the skin using a large syringe with a thick needle (Euronews July 16, 2021).
Hitachi’s mu-chip, 0.4 x 0.4 millimeters and Columbia University’s even smaller experimental chip can be inserted with a needle but with a 12 gauge needle” much larger than the 22-25 gauge used for COVID-19 vaccines .
It’s like a pug trying to fit through a pet door that is too small!
When Bill Gates mentioned microchips as a way to provide an identity card to millions
of people who did not have them, conspiracy theorists said he was proposing a tracking device.
FAKE NEWS. This got mixed up with the Gates Foundation’s
donation of $250 million for COVID-19 vaccine research.
Image source: Philadelphia Enquirer May 19, 2020.
See how these two unrelated actions lead to confusion and misinformation.
You do not want to be tracked? Turn off your phone!
1. The modified mRNA (bm) inside a liposome is injected into muscle tissue.
2. The liposome fuses with the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane and then enters the cell as an endosome.
3. The endosome releases mRNA (bm) into the cytoplasm.
4. The mRNA (bm) makes its way to the ribosomes of the endoplasmic reticulum, the cell’s protein factory.
5. mRNA contains the code to synthesize the spike protein antigen of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
6. The antigenic sites (epitopes) of the new spike protein then get presented by the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) as smaller peptides to T and B immune cells outside the cell.
The mRNA (bm) never enters the nucleus to do its job of creating a portion of the virus’ spike protein.
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muscle tissue
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Summarizing: This is what happens after mRNA vaccination
Vaccines Train Your Body to Fight COVID-19
Vaccinated
Unvaccinated
N. Maunakea, 8.24.21
Americans have received 621 million
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines as of Nov. 2, 2022.
For people still hesitating before getting the shot...
The data is in. Misinformation affects vaccination.
79% of Americans have been vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna, & J&J vaccines.
The vaccines are safe
and save lives.
Finally, infectious omicron variants infect even vaccinated and boosted people. Who are you near? Protect others and yourself with the Swiss Cheese Model of multiple layers of protection. Together we can reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Do you know anyone who became ill with COVID-19? How has it affected your life?
This music teacher wrote a song about online teaching during COVID-19. We hope we don’t need to do it again because of omicron or another contagious disease.
Mahalo for sharing some time with us.
Questions and comments? You can reach us at:
Stefan Moisyadi, moisyadi@hawaii.edu
Alika Maunakea, amaunake@hawaii.edu
Pauline Chinn, chinn@hawaii.ed