When will the COVID-19 pandemic end and what should be feared in vaccinations: the opinion of a Russian-speaking immunologist from the CDC

American immunologist Umid Sharapov: COVID-19 epidemic continues among unvaccinated people, reports RBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Immunologist at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) USA, Dr. Umid Sharapov talks about the importance of vaccination against COVID and other diseases, contraindications and fakes.

Disappointing Covid incidence statistics in recent weeks have forced the introduction of strict restrictions, which primarily affect unvaccinated citizens.

On the other hand, anti-vaccination sentiment around the world is still strong and is often fueled by a rapidly increasing number of social media followers, including those with medical degrees.

Umid Sharapov spoke about the current problems with vaccination, who and when should be vaccinated against Covid, whether there are contraindications, whether a medical examination should be carried out on the eve of immunization and when the pandemic may end.

Pandemic of the unvaccinated

Umid Sharapov says this is an epidemic among the unvaccinated.

Unvaccinated people get sick and get to the hospital.

“For example, in Ukraine every day from 400 to 700 people die from COVID. These are very large numbers. All of this could have been prevented if these people had been vaccinated when possible. Therefore, we considered it necessary to express our position on behalf of the Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Ukraine and on behalf of the American Embassy, ​​to support the immunization program, and also to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. It is very important. Get vaccinated as soon as possible, and also help your loved ones get vaccinated too, especially if they are older people,” says Umid Sharapov.

He stressed that it is also necessary to continue to apply other anti-epidemic measures, this is wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, washing hands, and so on.

And vaccination is the only effective tool with which the world can emerge from this pandemic.

He says that the only way is vaccination, that when the majority of the population, 80-90% are vaccinated, then the world can return to normal life without lockdowns and quarantines.

Because when the majority are protected, the virus will not be able to find susceptible people to itself, it will be difficult for it to find people who are not vaccinated, who do not have antibodies.

“Therefore,” says the immunologist, “everyone must unite to return to the way of life that was before the pandemic - to be free, to travel, to spend time with their loved ones, dear people and friends.”

“The common task is to get vaccinated, this is the only way,” says the doctor.

Many countries faced difficulties in coping with the pandemic, especially when vaccines were in limited quantities in the beginning.

Therefore, the ministries of health of the countries have developed a so-called roadmap, a plan for how to prioritize population groups, who will receive the vaccine first, second, and so on.

“This plan was very reasonable, scientifically based and open,” says Umid Sharapov.

“There are now enough vaccines, so there was a good communication campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated,” he says. “Vaccines have been scientifically proven to be effective against severe COVID, against death. And therefore the decision is very simple - either you need to get vaccinated against COVID, or, God forbid, you get sick and end up in intensive care.”

“That is, vaccination or resuscitation, in my opinion, if you think like that, then the choice is obvious. Very often people start asking a huge number of questions and looking for answers. I think that if you look at the situation in two dimensions - vaccination or intensive care, the choice is obvious,” says Umid Sharapov.

Fakes interfere with the fight against the epidemic

“There is a large amount of incorrect information circulating on the Internet, deliberately false information, which we call “fakes.” They are started or inserted by unscrupulous people; they are also called “trolls.” Sometimes such information is launched by organized groups; they have a common goal - to disorient people and confuse them,” says the immunologist.

Umid Sharapov believes that one needs to read a lot, one should turn to those sites where scientifically substantiated information is published.

He says that also if people want more information, they can always visit the UNICEF website, that they have very good informational support also on COVID vaccines, as well as the websites of the World Health Organization and the CDC.

It provides all the information and scientific evidence that the vaccine is effective and safe.

“And when a person reads such information, he will be able to find the answer to his questions and get vaccinated,” he says.

If you look at recent studies, they say that those who have been ill should also get vaccinated a few months after recovery, after 90 days, and so on.

“These questions and specific timing should be discussed with your doctor. But scientific research shows that the strength of the immunity we get from vaccination is much more stable and much stronger compared to the immunity we get after an illness,” says Umid Sharapov.

Is there immunity

Umid Sharapov says some experts may be confusing COVID with other infections.

“Yes, there are some infectious diseases after which we develop lifelong immunity. These include hepatitis A, measles, and so on. But for some infections - no, immunity after an illness is not lifelong, after a while a person can get sick again,” says the doctor.

There are cases when a person fell ill with COVID again, cases when they got sick three times, and each next time can be more difficult than the first.

According to Umid Sharapov, it is very difficult to predict how COVID will progress in a person, in a mild or moderate form: “This is, if I can say in non-scientific language, a lottery.”

People who have had COVID very often retain the consequences of this disease: they suffer from insomnia, depression, they have a feeling of anxiety, and there are attacks of panic attack.

Many people complain that after recovering from COVID, even if it has passed in a mild form, concentration is impaired.

Umid Sharapov says that these are the consequences of a drop in immunity. You need to understand that the treatment of COVID is very expensive, and then the treatment of the consequences is very expensive. After an illness, working capacity is disrupted: if you do not work well, you earn less money.

“I know from several examples, people from Kiev told me, those who were forced to leave their intellectual jobs because they couldn’t cope. That is, this also affects earnings,” says the immunologist.

Also, one of the complications described in the literature is hair loss in women and men, pain in the joints and muscles.

“I would like to appeal to those who still doubt, why do you need this? We know for sure, there are scientific studies, doctors talk about it. Do you want to go through all this? Or just get vaccinated, and we know a lot about vaccines - it’s safe, effective, it’s been scientifically proven,” says Umid Sharapov.

On the subject: Coronavirus can infect the brain, but not everyone: which increases the risk

Seven billion doses of Covid vaccines have already been administered in the world.

These numbers are growing every day.

Umid Sharapov believes that this is very good, because there are people who doubt, those who need to prove something, to show something. He encourages people in doubt to look for information on the right sites and through trusted sources.

Pre-vaccination examination

Umid Sharapov believes that pre-vaccination examination is a very important issue.

“The CDC, WHO, other scientific societies and doctors in developed countries do not recommend testing before vaccination. Why? First of all, it's expensive, you're helping someone get very rich, let's put it that way. Secondly, the tests may not be standardized, in one laboratory it will show one number, in another laboratory another, so what will you do next? It makes no sense, there is no logical sense to be tested, there is no harm from the vaccine. Go get vaccinated and that's it. I think this is the most truthful, most correct, simplest and smartest way,” the immunologist recommends.

The doctor says any medical treatment when you take drugs, pills and injections may have some side effects, this has always been known. He believes that, fortunately, we are lucky with the “Covid” vaccines, because the list of strict contraindications is very short.

These are, first of all, those people who received the “Covid” vaccine and, for example, had anaphylactic shock. This reaction appears in the first 15 minutes, so it is very important, doctors and nurses say “please wait 15 minutes here,” this is a very important moment.

But such situations happen very rarely, 1-2 cases per million, two million.

Some countries are already considering when it is proposed to vaccinate with a different vaccine. For example, if the reaction was to vaccine A, then you can discuss with your doctor, and the doctor may consider using vaccine B from another manufacturer with a different composition to the same person, just to increase immunity.

Some countries have such protocols.
Umid Sharapov believes that since this happens very, very rarely, there is no need to be afraid of this.

Because there is a treatment, if an adverse reaction occurs, such as anaphylactic shock, then vaccine doctors usually inject a drug that will immediately alleviate the person's condition and everything will be fine.

But now the risk of contracting COVID is very high.

6 people are hospitalized with COVID, the risks are millions of times, hundreds, tens of thousands of times higher.

“And there are also complications, both short-term and long-term. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of this, you need to go get vaccinated, and all other nuances, which are very few, can be discussed with an immunologist or with your family doctor,” says Umid Sharapov.

Vaccination of children and adolescents. And not only from COVID-19

The risk groups primarily include those people who have a higher mortality rate and higher complications from COVID. These are adults aged 65+, these are people who have chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, problems with weak immunity. It also includes health workers - doctors, nurses, nurses.

This is one of the main groups, there are others that need to be vaccinated first.

Photo: Shutterstock

That is, now, when a vaccination campaign is underway, the priority group is 65+.

Children play an important role in this epidemic as they spread the infection. They go to schools, kindergartens, there are many children, the infection spreads quickly and so they can infect their parents and relatives.

Scientific studies have shown that the vaccine is so safe that it can be used even for children.

“Now they are allowed to use it from the age of 12. If parents want to vaccinate, they should vaccinate, because in this way you not only protect your child, but also those around you. Therefore, I would like to say that children need to be vaccinated,” says the immunologist. “As for those parents who do not want to do this, this is a very interesting question. The point is, I'm saying that most of these parents are alive and well because of the vaccines they received when they were little. Then the vaccination program was very strong and good in the former Union.”

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Umid Sharapov believes that it all boils down to the fact that there may be false information about vaccines on the Internet. He thinks that this should be discussed with the doctor, and if the pediatrician is well trained, then he will always be in favor of vaccinations.

Because a good doctor and a good nurse know that preventing infectious diseases is best, it is cost effective.

“And we don’t want our children to get sick, so they need to be protected,” he says.

“I’ll give you an example: in 2017-2019 there was one of the largest measles outbreaks in Ukraine. This was a very large outbreak, and analysis showed that more than half of those affected were over 18 years of age. The reason for that outbreak was that for some reason parents did not vaccinate their children, they were afraid of something, they were frightened by misinformation. Aggressive misinformation that was then in the media and on the Internet,” says the doctor.

He is confident that if a parent loves their child and goes to a site where there is scientific evidence that vaccines work and are safe, for example, against measles, then this will be the right step to protect their child.

“I am a pediatrician and have seen a lot of complications in children who were not vaccinated. I saw a child with measles who died; his measles was very severe. And I saw a lot of such patients. I saw an adult 37-year-old patient, it was in another country, he had measles. And he told me: “Doctor, I’m dying, I’ve never felt so bad,” says the immunologist.

Umid Sharapov says rubella vaccination also protects against many complications.

If a pregnant woman falls ill with rubella, then often, unfortunately, children are born with very serious pathologies.

Therefore, it is necessary to be vaccinated, he said.

“I would like to encourage parents - if for some reason they missed the vaccination according to the calendar. Due to a pandemic, lockdown or some other reason, think about your steps, go to the website of the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and read what those infections do, and be sure to get vaccinated,” the doctor warns.

He said that now in Transcarpathia there was an outbreak of poliomyelitis, one child was paralyzed in his legs. And the infection is spreading among unvaccinated children.

“Unfortunately, polio causes paralysis and the child becomes crippled for life, all of this could have been prevented. It is highly contagious and spreads quickly, so efforts are now being made to ensure that parents who missed their children's polio vaccinations get the vaccine. This is very important, go to the website, read, talk to your pediatrician, he will help you catch up with the calendar and get vaccinated,” the immunologist strongly recommends.

Vaccine technology and booster vaccination

mRNA vaccines, also called “genetic vaccines,” are the result of an innovative biotechnology approach that turns body cells into molecular factories to produce proteins that activate pathogen-specific immune responses.

The technology holds great promise, but it also poses significant risks that are not yet fully known.

MRNA technology made it possible to produce a vaccine in the shortest possible time. Umid Sharapov says studies have shown that it is safe and very effective.

“And it’s very good that technology is developing. We think that in the future these technologies will help with the development of other vaccines,” he says.

The doctor says the top priority right now is to vaccinate those who have not yet been vaccinated. He encourages those people who are still in doubt to get vaccinated.

He believes that it is necessary to talk about booster doses a little later, that now the main focus is on those who have not even received the first dose, and they are at a very high risk of getting sick and infecting their loved ones.

Some countries have decided on booster doses, but according to the doctor, in these countries, in principle, very high vaccination coverage.

Umid Sharapov reminds us that the Christmas holidays are coming up soon, and in order to be close to loved ones, he asks everyone to get vaccinated.

“This is a gift you can give yourself,” says the immunologist.

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