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Vaccine Doesn’t Alter Genetic Order, Says Nigerian-American Leading Pfizer COVID-19 Research
Onyema Ogbuagu, a Nigerian-American researcher and medical doctor, has reaffirmed the efficacy of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and their ability to halt the spread of the virulent infection.
COVID-19 has killed over 1.6 million people worldwide.
Eko Hot Blog Ogbuagu spoke on Saturday, at a virtual series on the theme, ‘COVID-19: Vaccine, Hesitancy, Myths and Reality’, organised by the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) in partnership with Ngex.
He said wearing of face mask and keeping social distance are good measures to prevent spread of the virus, he however, said the two measures can’t keep the virus at bay for a long time.
He said the vaccine will be the final nail in the virus coffin.
Ogbuagb, who dispelled some insinuations and conspiracy theories regarding the virus, dismissed concerns that the vaccine would alter deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Pfizer and BioNTech had announced that the first vaccine they developed against COVID-19 could prevent more than 90 percent of people from getting infected.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the vaccine for public use, adding that the authorisation is a “significant milestone” in the pandemic.
“I think that issue of vaccine hesitancy is not new. It’s been an issue that has played us for a long time. In fact, I think the World Health Organisation (WHO) at some point had listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the greatest threats to global health,” he said.
“I think if we just think about historically the role that vaccine has played, with either eradicating diseases, near eradicating diseases and even the year-to-year advantages, there have always been individuals that have been concerned about what vaccines are and there are a lot of misconceptions around the harms or the potential harms vaccine caused.
“Specifically, for COVID-19 vaccines, I think that one of the concerns has been about the accelerated process or timelines. I want to flag vaccine hesitancy as a serious threat for us. The punchline I would say is that thinking about COVID-19, vaccine would be one of the approaches that really hosts the greatest promise.
“You can wear a mask and maintain social distance; we know how difficult it is to maintain some of that for a long period of time and those don’t really get rid of the disease itself. I think that the vaccine will be the final nail in the coffin for COVID-19. So, we have a solution to the problem; let’s not introduce problem to the solution.
“I want to be very clear on this, messenger mRNA vaccine does not enter the nucleus; they don’t incorporate into the host DNA and so they should be no concerns about it altering human genomes. It does not alter DNA; it doesn’t make you a zombie; it doesn’t alter your genetic makeup and we don’t expect any interference with that.”
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Speaking on the swiftness of the production of the vaccine, Ogbuagu said the success boils down team work.
He noted that despite the dire situation, the exigency of vaccine and the need to come up with a lasting solution that will address the challenges occasioned by the virus, the research team didn’t rush things and did not cut corners, adding that the research went through all the required stages.
“The studies have been accelerated, which is appropriate because of the time that we are in. The fact that it is a global pandemic makes it quite significant, so everybody worked together,” he said.
“The reason the vaccine trial has gone on so successfully and I think it’s just an amazing experience, it’s just a tribute to how when everybody works together with a focus to achieve a common goal and address the current public health threat; this is what success looks like. Even though the studies went on fast, there was no shortcut. The study went through all the phases.”
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