FEBRUARY 2021

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Understanding the
COVID-19 Vaccine
Most people have
heard of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic
acid), the molecule SARS-
CoV-2 viral spike that creates
our unique genetic code,
and some may even have
heard of RNA (ribonucleic
acid). They are sometimes
called “messenger genes;”
they carry information between
cells and also carry
the genetic information of
many viruses.
Coronaviruses are enveloped
RNA viruses. The spikes
projecting out from their surface
gave them the name “coronavirus.”
(“Corona” means “crown). The
structure of SARS-CoV-2, the virus
that causes COVID-19 illness, has
a unique feature that could explain
why it is so transmissible between
people. A scientific study identified
a structural loop in the SARS-
CoV-2 spike protein, the area of the
virus that facilitates entry into a
human cell, and a sequence of four
amino acids in this loop.
To understand how vaccines
work, it helps to first look at how
our bodies fight illness. When germs,
such as the virus that causes COV-
ID-19, invade our bodies, they attack
and multiply. This invasion, called
an infection, is what causes illness.
Our immune system uses several
tools to fight infection. Blood contains
red cells, which carry oxygen
to tissues and organs, and white or
immune cells, which fight infection.
Different types of white blood cells
fight infection in different ways.
The first time a person is infected
with the virus that causes COVID-19,
it can take several days or weeks for
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their body to make and use
all the germ-fighting tools
needed to get over the infection.
After the infection,
the person’s immune system
remembers what it learned
about how to protect the
body against that disease.
The body keeps a few
T-lymphocytes called memory
cells that go into action
quickly if the body encounters
the same virus again.
When the familiar antigens are detected,
B-lymphocytes produce antibodies
to attack them.
How COVID-19 Vaccines Work
COVID-19 vaccines help our bodies
develop immunity to the COV-
ID-19 virus without us having to get
the illness. Different types of vaccines
work in different ways to offer
protection, but all types of vaccines
will result in the body having a supply
of “memory” T-lymphocytes as
well as B-lymphocytes that will remember
how to fight this virus in
the future.
It will take a few weeks for the
body to produce adequate T-lymphocytes
and B-lymphocytes after
vaccination. Most vaccines use two
shots separated by 3-4 weeks. It is
possible that a person could be infected
with the virus that causes
COVID-19 just before or after vaccination.
They would then get sick
because the vaccine did not have
enough time to provide protection.
Sometimes after a vaccination,
the process of building immunity
can cause symptoms, such as fever.
These symptoms are normal and are
a sign that the body is building immunity.
36 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2021