{"id":75478,"date":"2024-08-03T01:00:19","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T01:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicalnewsbulletin.com\/?p=42176"},"modified":"2024-08-03T01:00:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-03T01:00:19","slug":"should-you-skip-your-second-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/should-you-skip-your-second-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you skip your second dose of COVID-19 vaccine?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Vaccine uptake has varied worldwide, with some countries still experiencing higher rates of first COVID-19 vaccine dose compared with a second dose, suggesting some people may be skipping their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.<\/span> A recent study suggests why this might not be a good choice.<\/p>\n

Conventionally, the approval of new vaccines worldwide has always been a lengthy and systematic process. From an immunological perspective, new vaccines must be successful at inducing the production of neutralizing antibodies, made by specific immune cells called B cells, that block a virus from infecting the body.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Pfizer and Moderna<\/strong> COVID-19 vaccines<\/h2>\n

The Pfizer and Moderna <\/span>vaccines function similarly, in the sense that they both contain the mRNA code necessary for manufacturing SARS-Cov-2 spike proteins.1<\/sup>SARS-Cov-2 is the scientific term for the virus that causes COVID-19, and this virus uses spike proteins to infect the cells of its human host.<\/p>\n

The mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna work differently from conventional vaccines. For instance, classic vaccines are typically composed of either the pre-manufactured individual proteins themselves or pathogens that strengthen the response of the immune system to a specific microbe.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Importance of the second dose<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Representing a new landmark in the field of vaccinology, the emergency use of two mRNA vaccines has been authorized within a year of the onset of the pandemic.2<\/sup> After all, as remarked by Dr. Pulendran, pathology professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, \u201cthis is the first time RNA vaccines have ever been given to humans.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n

According to a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University, a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been found to provide people with a strong immune system boost.1<\/sup> Such conclusions were drawn following the analysis of a vast selection of blood samples from people that had been immunized with the Pfizer vaccine.<\/p>\n

Specifically, investigators measured the complete gene expression of 242,479 distinct types of immune cells, as well as levels of antibodies and immune-signalling proteins in the blood samples.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

Should you skip your second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The research team concluded that the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine increases antibody levels for SARS-CoV-2 in the body, but not nearly as much as the second dose.3<\/sup> Likewise, Dr. Pulendran asserted that \u201cthe second shot has powerful beneficial effects that far exceed those of the first shot\u2026 it stimulated a manifold increase in antibody levels, a terrific T-cell response that was absent after the first shot alone, and strikingly enhanced innate immune response.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Surprisingly, the second dose of the vaccine was also found to mobilize and increase the count of a newly discovered group of first-responder cells, classified as monocytes, by 100 times in blood cells.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

As this surge in monocytes has been specifically associated with the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, this has provided even more incentive for the public to receive the second dose.<\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stanford Medicine. (2021, July 19). Study shows why second dose of COVID-19 vaccine shouldn\u2019t be skipped<\/em>. EurekAlert! https:\/\/www.eurekalert.org\/pub_releases\/2021-07\/sm-ssw071921.php.<\/li>\n
  2. Polack, F.P., Thomas, S.J., Kitchin, N. et al.<\/em> Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine. The New England Journal of Medicine<\/em><\/span> (2020). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1056\/NEJMoa2034577<\/li>\n
  3. Arunachalam, P.S., Scott, M.K.D., Hagan, T. et al.<\/em> Systems vaccinology of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in humans. Nature<\/em> (2021). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-021-03791-x<\/li>\n
  4. Image by Wilfried Pohnke from Pixabay <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Vaccine uptake has varied worldwide, with some countries still experiencing higher rates of first COVID-19 vaccine dose compared with a second dose, suggesting some people may be skipping their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. A recent study suggests why this might not be a good choice. Conventionally, the approval of new vaccines worldwide has …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}