THIS WEEK MASSACHUSETTS BEGAN THE SECOND PHASE OF ITS COVID-19
VACCINATION ROLLOUT, WITH ROUGHLY 450,000 RESIDENTS AGES
75 AND OLDER NOW ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A VACCINATION.
BUT THE VACCINATION PROCESS HAS BEEN PLAGUED WITH DIFFICULTIES
NATIONWIDE, INCLUDING HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH RANKS 34TH
NATIONALLY IN PER CAPITA VACCINATIONS, AS REPORTED ON
TUESDAY BY THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.
TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE STATE'S
VACCINATION ROLLOUT, I SPOKE WITH DR.
ANDREW ARTENSTEIN, THE CHIEF PHYSICIAN EXECUTIVE AND
INCIDENT COMMANDER FOR COVID-19 AT BAY STATE HEALTH.
>> WE ARE INTO EARLY PHASE TWO OF THREE PHASES.
IF YOU'LL RECALL, PHASE ONE WAS, HAD TO DO LARGELY WITH HEALTH
CARE WORKERS AND THAT'S BROADLY DEFINED PEOPLE IN THE GENERAL
FIELD OF HEALTH CARE, AS WELL AS RESIDENTS AND STAFF OF VARIOUS
LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES AND VARIOUS TYPES OF NURSING HOMES
AND ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES.
THAT WAS PHASE ONE.
THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE GETTING VACCINATED UNDER PHASE ONE, BUT
WE'VE MOVED ON TO PHASE TWO, AND THE FIRST EARLY STAGE OF PHASE
TWO STARTED WITH THOSE ADULTS 75 YEARS AND OLDER.
SO IT WAS REALLY AN AGE BASED CRITERIA AND THAT STARTED ON
FEBRUARY 1st.
>> IT WILL BE ABOUT A YEAR IN MARCH SINCE WE WERE FIRST
ADVISED THE QUARANTINE, PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND HERE WE
ARE A YEAR LATER ALREADY DRT DISTRIBUTING VACCINES.
THIS RAPID BASIS UNLIKE ANY OTHER.
HOW WAS THIS VACCINE ABLE TO BE CREATED AND RELEASED SO QUICKLY?
>> THERE WAS INVESTIGATION MORE THAN 15 YEARS AGO, IN 2003-2004
THERE WAS AN OUTBREAK, ANLE DICK OF, AN EPIDEMIC OF SARS, WHICH
IS A GENETICALLY RELATED VIRUS TO THE VIRUS THAT CAUSES
COVID-19.
IT WAS NEW AT THE TIME, 15 PLUS YEARS AGO, AND A LOT OF WORK WAS
DONE AT THAT POINT SCIENTIFICALLY TO DEVELOP A
VACCINE.
NOW THAT INFECTION SORT OF DISAPPEARED FROM THE FACE OF THE
EARTH, BUT OTHER CORONAVIRUSES HAVE SINCE APPEARED AND THIS IS
ONE OF THEM.
SO WE HAVE THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAD SOME UNDERSTANDING
OF THE VIRUS, THEY'RE GENETICALLY RELATED, SO IT'S
SOME OF THE BASIC WORK HAD ALREADY BEEN DONE.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE HAD 40 YEARS OF DEALING WITH H.I.V.
NOW, H.I.V. IS A COMPLETELY UNRELATED VIRUS, COMPLETELY
UNRELATED DISEASE.
BUT THE SCIENCE THAT HAS MOVED FORWARD RELATED TO THE STUDY OF
H.I.V.
HAS HELPED OTHER FIELDS OF SCIENCE AS WELL.
SO THAT'S HELPED THE OTHER TWO THINGS THAT HAVE
HELPED IS THERE HAS BEEN A WORLDWIDE FOCUS ON COVID OVER
THE LAST YEAR.
WHAT'S HAPPENED IS SCIENTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HAVE
TURNED THEIR ATTENTION AND FOCUSED THEIR ATTENTION ON THIS
ONE INFECTION AND THIS ONE DISEASE, WHICH HAS RESULTED IN
SOME SPECTACULAR ADVANCES.
THEN FINALLY, GOVERNMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS HAVE POURED
FOUNDING DOLLARS INTO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THIS
INFECTION, INCLUDING PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES, AND
THAT HAS REALLY HELPED PROPEL SCIENCE FORWARD FAST, TO GET US
TO THE POINT WHERE WE NOW HAVE THIS ACHIEVEMENT.
>> SPEAKING OF SCIENCE, THIS VACCINE IS AN MRNA VACCINE.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS INOCULATION AND HOW
IT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL VACCINE THAT WE'RE
USED TO?
>> THESE ARE BASED ON THIS NOVEL MRNA PLATFORM.
AND THE MESSENGER RNA BASICALLY IS A SYNTHETIC GENETIC SEQUENCE
OF THE VIRUS, SO IT'S NOT THE VIRUS, IT IS NOT EVEN THE ACTUAL
VIRUS AND CANNOT CAUSE ANYONE TO GET SICK WITH THE VIRUS.
BUT IT'S JUST THE PIECE OF GENETIC MATERIAL THAT IS MADE IN
LABORATORIES THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE GENETIC MATERIAL FROM
THE VIRUS, THAT WHEN IT'S INJECTED INTO THE HUMAN BODY IT
INSTRUCTS HUMAN CELLS TO MAKE CERTAIN PROTEINS, THAT'S WHAT
MESSENGER RNA DOES FOR US UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS.
THIS TIME THE PROTEINS IT'S HAVING OUR BODIES CREATE ARE
PROTEINS THAT STUD THE SURFACE OF THE CORONAVIRUS.
THE SPIKE PROTEIN.
AND WHEN OUR BODY PRODUCES THAT PROTEIN, IN RESPONSE TO THE
VACCINE, OUR BODY ALSO SEES IT AS A FOREIGN SUBSTANCE AND
PRODUCES ANTIBODY AGAINST THAT PROTEIN.
THOSE ANTIBODIES ARE WHAT PROTECTS US, LIKE AN INVISIBLE
SHIELD AGAINST THE ACTUAL VIRUS INFECTION AND DISEASE CAUSED BY
THE VIRUS.
SO IT PREVENTS VIRAL REPLICATION BECAUSE THE VIRUS, THOSE
ANTIBODIES STICK TO THE VIRAL PROTEINS AS THEY TRY TO GET IN
OUR CELL, AND PREVENT IT.
SO IT'S ALMOST LIKE GIVING THE BLUEPRINTS FOR A HOUSE, YOU
KNOW, WHEN A CONTRACTOR GIVES YOU BLUEPRINTS, THIS IS GIVING
OUR BODY THE BLUEPRINTS TO MAKE THESE PROTEINS TO PRODUCE THESE
ANTIBODIES AGAINST THEM WHICH PROTECT US AGAINST THE VIRUS.
THAT MESSENGER RNA QUICKLY GOES AWAY WHEN IT'S INJECTED INTO THE
BODY, IT DOESN'T LAST FOR LONG, IT DOESN'T CAUSE ANY ILL
EFFECTS, BUT IT DOES ALLOW OUR BODY TO CREATE THIS IMMUNE
RESPONSE WHICH APPEARS TO PROTECT AT VERY HIGH LEVELS,
UPWARDS OF 95% AGAINST DISEASE AND SEVERE DISEASE CAUSED BY THE
VIRUS.
WE DON'T KNOW FOR SURE YET WHETHER IT PROTECTS AGAINST ALL
ASYMPTOMATIC INFECTIONS, WHICH IS WHY EVERYONE STILL IS HEARING
THAT IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO WEAR MASKS, PHYSICAL SOCIAL
DISTANCE, STAY HOME WITH SYMPTOMS, ALL --
WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY, ALL THOSE PUBLIC HEALTH
RECOMMENDATIONS WE STILL NEED TO FOLLOW UNTIL WE'RE OUT OF THE
WOODS.
UNTIL ENOUGH VACCINE HAS GOTTEN INTO ENOUGH PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE
HERD IMMUNITY AND WE'RE OUT OF THE WOODS.
THAT'S STILL SEVERAL MONTHS AWAY, MAYBE SIX OR MORE MONTHS
AWAY.
>> THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DEBATE AND DISCUSSION AROUND THIS
VACCINE AND WHETHER IT IS SAFE OR NOT.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS YOU'VE HEARD AND
CAN YOU CLARIFY THEM FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CONCERNS?
>> WHAT WE'VE SEEN AT LEAST IN THE NEW BIG CLINICAL STUDIES OF
THE MESSENGER RNA VACCINES THAT RESULTED IN THE EMERGENCY
AUTHORIZATION, THAT OVER 30,000 PEOPLE WERE VACCINATED IN TOTAL.
AND OF THOSE PEOPLE, THERE WERE ESSENTIALLY NO SERIOUS ADVERSE
EVENTS, MEANING THERE, OR VERY FEW, VERY MINIMAL ADVERSE EVENTS
OUT OF 30,000.
NOW 28 MILLION AMERICANS AS OF YESTERDAY HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST
ONE DOSE OF THESE VACCINES, AND ABOUT 7 MILLION HAVE RECEIVED
TWO DOSES AND FULLY VACCINATED.
IT'S A SMALL PERCENTAGE, BUT IT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE
NONETHELESS.
AND THERE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY FEW REPORTED SEVERE SIDE
EFFECTS.
NOW, THE SECOND DOSE MAY BE A LITTLE BIT MORE SIDE EFFECTS
THAN THE FIRST, AND THE SIDE EFFECTS TEND TO OCCUR MORE OFTEN
IN THOSE WHO ARE YOUNGER, AS OPPOSED TO THOSE WHO ARE OLDER.
AND THAT'S PROBABLY RELATED TO SORT OF AN EXUBERANT IMMUNE
RESPONSE, YOUNGER PEOPLE HAVE A MORE ACTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM, SO
THEY HAVE A MORE STIMULATED IMMUNE SYSTEM, THAT'S ONE OF THE
BENEFITS OF BEING YOUNG.
AND WHEN I SAY YOUNG, IN THE STUDIES THEY WERE REALLY THOSE
UNDER 55.
AS OF WHAT WE KNOW NOW, THERE ARE NO SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, BUT
AGAIN THIS VACCINE HAS ONLY BEEN USED EVEN IN THE CLINICAL TRIALS
SINCE THE FALL.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SIX MONTHS, EVEN IN THE FOLKS WHO
WERE PART OF THE INITIAL STUDIES.
THAT'S NOT A LONG TIME, BUT IT IS LONG ENOUGH TO SEE ANY
IMMEDIATE OR SHORT-TERM SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS, AND THERE WERE
VERY FEW.