LCCC virus expert: COVID vaccines are safe miracles of science (VIDEO)

ELYRIA — As a child, Harry Kestler remembers drinking a polio vaccine. "It was like an orange-flavored candy, basically. It had a virus in there, and I got sick from it," he said. He's lucky he did. Kestler, a microbiologist who is now teaching a new generation of students during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the uncomfortable after-effects of a vaccine mean the body is mounting an immune response. In a discussion Thursday near his lab at Lorain County Community College, Kestler shared his thoughts on the rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that will help end the spread of SARS-CoV-2, which has killed more than 2 million people worldwide in the past 10 months. What is a vaccine? Vaccines are like the "light'' version of a disease. They usually involve injecting either a live or dead specimen into a person, giving the body's defense system a chance to learn how to effectively fight it off. Kestler, in teaching mode, said vaccines have been around a long time — they've successfully eliminated smallpox and a lot of other childhood diseases. The two vaccines being used in the United States to fight COVID-19 are RNA vaccines, and Kestler called them "revolutionary." RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is present in all living cells and carries instructions around the body about how to handle proteins. "This vaccine is just a naked piece of RNA that's wrapped in fat," Kestler said. "We take that and inject it in your arm." Like two soap bubbles merging together, RNA dumps what it's carrying into the body's cells then melts away. But are they safe? The new vaccines are not only safe, said Kestler, but also unbelievably effective compared with older vaccines. The biggest danger they carry is allergic reaction, which is exceedingly rare. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Moderna vaccine has caused just 2.5 anaphylactic reactions per million doses given. The Pfizer vaccine is slightly higher, with 11.1 cases per million. That's why, at COVID-19 vaccination clinics held in Lorain County in recent weeks, reporters have observed patients under watch for 15 minutes after getting their shots. Many people report going home and experiencing arm pain around the injection site, running a fever or feeling down for one or two days. That's not a danger sign but a natural reaction as the immune system goes into overdrive, Kestler said. The new vaccines were not rushed to market, he said. Rather, they are the result of 40 years of work. Kestler said their technology has been tested extensively — only the formula specific to COVID-19 is "new," in much the same way the flu shot is reformulated every year to handle new strains. Compared with their predecessors, he considers the COVID-19 vaccines to be miracles of science. "Let's talk about old vaccines versus new ones," Kestler said. "Old vaccines — they're terrible. The old vaccine I got for smallpox ended up killing a lot of people, because it was a dangerous vaccine. We have gotten so much better at making vaccines, making them safer." Compared with the risks associated with COVID-19 — not just death, but long-term respiratory and cognitive problems — the risks posed by the vaccines are nearly zero, he said. That includes unfounded concerns that the new vaccines could cause infertility. There is no factual evidence of any such link, according to Kestler, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and dozens of other experts. Fertility has been a false flag raised with any number of previous vaccines, including those meant to fight the mumps and AIDS, Kestler said. "Give me a choice between the real deal and the vaccine? I take that vaccine every single day," he said. The next major advancement is expected to be the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is nearing the end of trials and could be approved within weeks. It's different from the Pfizer and Moderna versions. It's a live vaccine, doesn't require extreme cold storage and best of all is inexpensive. "You get a cold from this, and that helps build a longer-lasting immune response," Kestler said. The path forward More than 24 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been injected in the United States since December, including more than 714,000 in Ohio; that's about 6 percent of the state's population. In the same period, new cases have started to fall off significantly. Kestler said vaccines are partially responsible for the improving situation. But masks and social distancing are doing most of the heavy lifting, he said. The key to ending the pandemic and getting back to normal will be getting as many people vaccinated as possible, he said. Inoculating half the population won't be enough. In fact, that would just drag out the situation longer, Kestler said. "We should all be running to get the vaccine right now," he said. "Shutting down the virus is way important, because you want to shut it down before it has a chance to generate new mutations." People are "viral Ubers," he said — viruses need a way to get around, and if you deny them rides they won't be able to get from point A to point B, from person to person. The best-case scenario would be returning to normal by August, Kestler said. That would require just about everybody to get their shots. But a much lower vaccination rate could make the struggle last another year, and the worst thing that could happen would be allowing the virus to proliferate through another winter. The coronavirus will die off on its own if people do nothing to curb its spread, he said: "Eventually, all diseases lose." That's what happened with the Spanish flu of 1918, for which there never was a vaccine. That disease was an incredibly good killer — the CDC puts the worldwide death toll at 50 million, and other estimates are as high as 100 million. The Spanish flu was so effective that it killed off its own food supply. A good vaccine, Kestler said, will put itself out of business by stopping a virus before it can cause so many deaths. The smallpox vaccine was a good one, which is why children no longer have to get it. But the world is in a race against the clock to stop COVID-19 before it has the chance to evolve further, Kestler said. There already are new variants making their way to the United States, and natural selection has made them more infectious. Two months ago in England, COVID-19 was about to be eliminated, he said. Then the B.1.1.7 variant reared its head and spread like wildfire, quickly becoming the dominant version of the coronavirus. So far, existing vaccines have proved effective against the new variants, too, he said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com. Watch previous Kestler COVID Q&A videos