Expert say mRNA tech can address new variant threat

Kuala Lumpur: The effectiveness of Pfizer’s vaccine against the new Covid-19 variant detected in several countries is yet to be assessed, but the threat can be addressed through the new Messenger RNA (mRNA) method used in vaccine production, according to an expert.

A clinical microbiologist specialist from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim), Assoc Prof Dr Nurul Azmawati Mohd, said there were possibilities that the vaccine would be less or not effective at all against the new virus variant.

“However, with the mRNA technology, this problem can be solved. The mRNA content in the vaccine can be exchanged with a new one which resembles the new virus variant in just a few weeks time,” she said in a webinar session entitled ‘Fear of the Covid-19 Vaccine’ organised by Usim and Science Media Centre Malaysia recently.

At the same time, she also advised former Covid-19 patients to get the vaccination as it could help improve their immunity against the virus.

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Nurul Azmawati said the number of patients who were infected for the second time was small, and experts anticipated that the antibodies could protect them for only several months.

“After contracting Covid-19 , the immune system will develop antibodies to prevent future infections. There is still a lot to be learned about antibodies’ function against the virus that causes Covid-19 .

“The vaccine can be taken when the patient is free from any infections. If Covid-19 patients had received the ‘convalescent serum’ treatment, they have to wait up to 90 days before they can take the vaccine,” she explained.

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Meanwhile, a virologist from Usim’s Medicine and Health Sciences Faculty, Prof Datin Dr Che Ilina Che Isahak, said it was common for the people to experience side effects after taking the vaccine as this showed that the immune response is functioning. Among the side effects reported are pain around the injection site, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, fever and diarrhoea, and they would last for one or two days.

She also said that anaphylaxis (rapid allergic reactions) have been reported in the United Kingdom and the United States including low blood pressure, dizziness and shortness of breath, but quick treatment can be provided and no deaths were reported so far.

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