Vaccine yes, vaccine no. While vaccination against Covid continues throughout Italy, a lot that our country is among the first in Europe for the administration of doses, Unfortunately, many doubts remain. One wonders how the scientific community managed to come up with a vaccine in such a short time. But certainly the formula of the one already in circulation is known to many researchers. And recently the biologist Barbara Gallavotti explained it very simply, well-known face of TV and loved by many precisely for the simplicity with which it explains science. What the vaccine contains, the biologist clarified, is known because there is also a document from the Italian drug agency that explains it.
Gallavotti explains the Pfizer vaccine with simple examples
Participating in the television program of La7 ″ Di Tuesday ”, the biologist Gallavotti explained the contents of the vaccine, with some simple steps. A useful clarification that could reassure the doubters. "Let's imagine we take a vial of vaccine and look inside - stressed -. What will we find? Meanwhile, millions of copies of the active ingredient, the Rna molecule, which contains the information that cells can use to build a Spike protein". This type of protein is identical to those found on the surface of the coronavirus.
And that the virus itself "uses as keys to force the lock that leads inside our cells - added -. So in fact what we use as a vaccine is equal to a piece of the genetic heritage of the virus. Not all. It is as if by vaccinating ourselves we are supplying inexperienced recruits instructions for building a gun trigger, in order to teach them to then recognize the weapon when they see it".
No harm from the new vaccine for Gallavotti
And for those who still have doubts, the biologist is clear. “The product, what is built, - he clarifies - cannot in any way do danno. We therefore say that it is useful but not harmful. Similarly, the vaccine we use can in no way make us run the risk of infecting ourselves with the new Coronavirus. Because it's that bit of genetic information. But in order for that little piece to be incorporated by our cells and read and translated into the protein we need, it has to be conducted inside them. So it is not enough to just inject Rna. It must be included in a sphere of fat molecules. In fact, this sphere of fat molecules with a small genetic heritage inside, once it reaches the cells of our muscle, merges with them and the small piece of Rna is found inside them ".
The substances found in the vaccine
Besides the fat the dose contains something else. "Fat molecules are extremely important - explains Gallavotti -. Let's try to understand what they are. Two are artificial fat molecules, they are practically unpronounceable, identified by an acronym. They are very important because they serve to stabilize that sphere, vesicles that contain Rna, so that it does not dissolve too soon. But they have a problem they are suspected of possibly being responsible for the few allergic reactions caused by this vaccine. And then there are two other fat molecules: one of them is cholesterol. Then there are the excipients. Meanwhile, there are four different molecules of salts that serve to maintain the vaccine, which must have a level of acidity comparable to that of our body. The last compound is a sugar molecule, which serves to protect the fat spheres and to preserve it".
Allergic reactions to the vaccine, what happens
The biologist also provided information on hypothetical allergic reactions after administering the doses. “They are now extremely rare - he explained -. Vaccines have been given to millions of people and it is estimated that one vaccine in ninety thousand can have an allergic reaction. On balance we risk more eating a food that goes wrong than having an allergic reaction to this vaccine ”.
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