… Says it does not tamper fertility, DNA or transmit virus

By Chioma Obinna

An Immuno-pharmacology expert, Dr Murtala Jibril, has urged Nigerians to take the opportunity of the availability of vaccines in the country to get vaccinated in order to protect themselves, save more lives and reduce the chances of severe disease from the mutant virus.

The expert also debunked rumours that vaccines tamper fertility in women individual’s DNA and cannot transmit COVID virus as they are not whole pathogen vaccines.

Jibril, who spoke in Kano during a Two – Day Media Dialogue on COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in collaboration with the Child Rights Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Information, CRiB, explained that more Nigerians getting vaccination earlier and faster would reduce further spread of the virus and in turn reduce formation of more variants of the virus.

Jibril, of  the Immunology/Vaccine development, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Bayero University, Kano, lamented the dangers of mutant virus explaining that with mutations the effectiveness and efficacy of the vaccines tends to reduce.

He said with Mordena vaccine now in the country, Nigeria has one of the best vaccines against COVID-19, adding that studies have shown that 3 million lives are saved annually in the world with vaccines.

The expert, who regretted that too many lives have been lost, said vaccines are key to getting herd immunity and reducing severe COVID-19 disease in people. 

He further noted that vaccine has revolutionalised public health and remained one of the greatest achievements of the first century.

According to him while it has led to the eradication of smallpox and significantly reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases, no single vaccine provides 100 per cent protection.

He said: “Herd immunity does not provide full protection to those who are not vaccinated but herd immunity provides substantial protection to the unvaccinated.

“The issue of variant and mutation with the virus is a common thing.   That is why people should try as much as possible to receive the vaccines as early as possible because the more you delay the more the virus mutates to other variants.

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Debunking myths that it tampers with DNA of individuals, he said: “These vaccines cannot tamper with an individual’s DNA because the DNA and RNA are not even in a similar compartment.   It is like you have somebody opening your house and somebody is in your living room.   And somebody is in the Kitchen and you are saying that somebody in the Kitchen will infect somebody in the living room.

The DNA and RNA are not in the same compartment The COVID vaccine cannot alter our DNA and it is only the RNA that is being administered.     And it   is the RNA that   carries the genetic information   or the blueprint it ultimately translated by our body to produce the spike protein and it is the spike protein   that will now stimulate the immune response and develop antibodies   that protect us against the virus. 

“Another misconception is that people think that when you get vaccinated it can cause infertility in women. It is not true. There is no similarity between the spike protein and the syncytin protein.  We don’t have what is tagged Cross immunogenicity.  Getting vaccination with the vaccine cannot produce the antibodies that will attack the syncytin protein”.

Vanguard News Nigeria