Given that we are living through THREE global health emergencies (COVID, polio, and monkeypox), new vaccines are being approved, new outbreaks are occurring, and the reality that being healthy is indeed a radical selfless act of loving others (read: we need to redefine what it means to be healthy), “Three Things Thursday” highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.
This week I am focusing on three things that are making me smile. The news this week has been full of devastation, surprises, and frustrations (between Ian, Putin, Ebola, and MRSA, to name a few of the things on my mind). As this week comes to a close, I’ve decided to focus on the positive.
Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you to be healthy and create healthy communities.
Here we go… Three Things Thursday — the “this is what made me smile this week” edition.
Bivalent COVID Boosters for Kids Aged 5-11 years
On Monday, Pfizer submitted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application to the FDA for its bivalent COVID booster vaccine for kids aged 5-11 years. This is the first step in the process needed to make the new COVID booster available to children 5-11 years. Kids in this age group have been able to get a COVID vaccine since last fall. Currently, kids can receive a booster dose of the original vaccine. However, given that the bivalent vaccine is both safe and highly effective against the current Omicron variants, kids need access to the new bivalent booster.
Now that the paperwork has been submitted, we are waiting for FDA to schedule a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) and then the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Both committees must review the data submitted by Pfizer and authorize the use of the new booster for kids aged 5-11. While official dates have not been announced, scuttlebutt within the public health community is pointing toward a mid-October approval and release of these boosters for kids.
More to come…
But this is exciting and welcomed news.
Proposed California Bill Aims to Fight COVID Misinformation
California bill AB-2098 has been approved by the state assembly and sent to Governor Gavin Newson for approval. If passed, the bill would prevent physicians from knowingly spreading misinformation about COVID-19. Specifically, the bill would —
“Designate the dissemination of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or “COVID-19,” as unprofessional conduct (of a physician).” ~CA AB-2098
Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines is responsible for 30% of people’s decisions to not get vaccinated and has contributed to more than 300,000 preventable COVID deaths that could have been prevented by vaccines.
The California law would prohibit the spreading of false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID vaccines by physicians in the state.
This is a huge step forward (and an amazing example of proposed legislation for other states) in stopping the amount of misinformation being shared in physician offices and online. Physicians must be held accountable (we all need to ensure we are spreading accurate info, but physicians and their position of power and responsibility to do no harm must be held to the highest standard) and must not perpetuate the spread of misinformation. It is also a bold statement acknowledging both the responsibility of physicians to provide accurate information and the need to combat misinformation at its source.
No Association between COVID Vaccines and Infertility
Since COVID vaccines were first made available in late 2020, misinformation connecting the vaccines to infertility has spread like wildfire. The first rumors claimed that getting vaccinated would lead to immediate infertility; that somehow the spike protein (read: the mRNA) in the vaccine causes infertility when the spike protein in the virus itself doesn’t cause infertility.
That type of thinking doesn’t make an ounce of sense.
There were also rumors that the vaccine will NOT take away one’s ability to have a child in the future. As I wrote to my daughter the day she received her first dose of the COVID vaccine — the mRNA vaccine contains the genetic material that will form the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in your body. When your immune system sees this spike protein, it will form antibodies to fight that infection as well as a memory so that when you are exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the future your body will know how to fight off infection. The spike protein in the COVID vaccine shares one amino acid with another protein that is needed to keep the placenta attached to the uterus during pregnancy. Sharing a single amino acid does NOT mean these two proteins are the same. The vaccine will NOT trigger your immune system to attack the protein needed to get pregnant.
Let me illustrate… please imagine a telephone number. It is 10 digits long. Imagine there is a 2 in one phone number, and there is also a 2 in another phone number. Despite the fact that the two numbers share a digit, if you think you can reach the person with the first number by calling the other number — you’re wrong. If you dial the first number, you’ll get a specific phone. Just because both phone numbers have a 2 in them does not mean the numbers are the same. The same is true for proteins and amino acids. Just because a single amino acid in the COVID vaccine matches another amino acid in a different protein in your body does not mean they are one and the same. Your immune system is so amazingly complex that it recognizes even the smallest differences in protein structures; just like you can see that the two numbers are different from each other.
Additionally, just this week a new study was published in the journal Vaccine. Using data from Israel, the United States, Russia, China, Italy, and Turkey, the researchers found that there is no scientific proof of any association between COVID vaccines and fertility impairment in men and women.
On a personal note — here’s what has me smiling this week… my son’s MRSA infection is finally clearing up. Fall has arrived in NW Pennsylvania. The apples and apple cider from our local orchard are divine. My favorite season has arrived. Here’s to warm sweaters, turtlenecks, and cute boots. Cheers!