The cult of ignorance, part 2

Rant, part 2.  Move on if COVID politics aren’t your thing,

I have a friend, an intelligent and seemingly well-educated man, who is just a walking blob of ignorance when it comes to the science and history of vaccines. I’m tired or arguing with him, I’m venting here where he will never see what I’ve said …

He is frustrated because the COVID vaccines do not prevent COVID, but rather, reduce the severity of the disease.  He is frustrated because he was led to believe that the shots he got months ago would be sufficient, that we’d never need a booster shot, and he feels we’ve been lied to about the vaccines’ efficacy.  He feels cheated.

I understand his frustration.  We all feel frustrated.  We all have COVID fatigue.  

But still …

He told me that the COVID shots aren’t a “vaccine”, they are an “inoculation”.  Aren’t they the same thing?  He explained that a “vaccine” prevents illness (e.g., polio) but an inoculation only prevents the severity of an illness.  

And after I stopped shaking my head, I explained that “vaccine” and “inoculation” were synonymous, that some vaccines — like polio — usually prevent illness, but others — like influenza — do not always prevent disease.  We get an annual flu shot because we don’t build lasting immunity to influenza, and we have to guess which strain of the flu will circulate every year. 

(We may have a bad flu season this year, the strain that’s circulating isn’t the one that was anticipated, so flu shots might not be as effective as we’d like them to be.)

He fancies himself an expert because he periodically receives injections from his allergist.  He’s been getting allergy shots for decades. But I don’t think he understands the science behind his allergy shots, or that it is the same principle that governs vaccines.

From The Mayo Clinic

Allergy shots are regular injections over a period of time — generally around three to five years — to stop or reduce allergy attacks. Allergy shots are a form of treatment called immunotherapy. Each allergy shot contains a tiny amount of the specific substance or substances that trigger your allergic reactions. These are called allergens. Allergy shots contain just enough allergens to stimulate your immune system — but not enough to cause a full-blown allergic reaction.

Over time, your doctor increases the dose of allergens in each of your allergy shots. This helps get your body used to the allergens (desensitization). Your immune system builds up a tolerance to the allergens, causing your allergy symptoms to diminish over time.

And vaccines?

From Winchester Hospital:

The concept behind vaccines is to stimulate an antibody memory response without producing an actual illness. When this happens, you get the immunity without getting sick. A vaccine must contain at least one antigen from the bacteria or virus in order to get a response.

There are several ways an antigen can be used:

• Attenuated live viruses—Weakened forms of a live virus. They do not cause illness, but will create an immune response. Examples include the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and chickenpox vaccines.
• Inactivated viruses—A version of the virus that has been killed. Although the virus is dead, antibodies will still be produced. Examples include the polio vaccine.
• Recombinant—Viruses are made in a lab through genetic engineering. This way, a specific gene can be reproduced. The human papillomavirus (HPV) has several strains. The HPV vaccine can be tailored to protect against strains that cause cervical cancer.
• Conjugate—Bacteria and virus antigens may have a polysaccharide coating, a sugar-like substance to protect it. Conjugate vaccines work around the disguise to recognize the bacteria. The Hib vaccine is an example of a conjugate.
• Subunit—Uses only the antigens that stimulate an immune response. The flu shot is a subunit vaccine.
• Toxiod—Inactivated versions of bacterial toxins are used to make the immunity. Examples include the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.

The presence of a vaccine in the body causes the immune system to produce antibodies against the invading antigens. Usually, it takes more than one vaccine to attain a full response. Most are done in a series of vaccines that are given at specific intervals of time. Some, such as tetanus, may need to redone periodically to maintain immunity (a booster).

Reduction in immunity over time can cause outbreaks of disease in a group or community of people who no longer have immunity. This happens periodically with mumps outbreaks on college campuses or in cases of  pertussis (whooping cough) in adults. Outbreaks can also occur because of lapses in booster doses or in areas where vaccination rates are low. Increases in the rates of whooping cough, measles, and mumps result from these lapses.

Hmm…doesn’t that sound like the same thing?  

The substance may be different— allergen vs. virus — but the principle is the same.

 My friend wants “vaccine” to apply only to inoculations that provide sterile immunity.  Like polio, for example. He thinks it’s an insult to Jonas Salk to call the COVID shots “vaccines”.

Wait until he finds out that before Salk started researching polio, he was instrumental in developing the flu vaccine.  I found The First Flu Shot to be interesting and informative.  In fact, it was Salk’s work on the influenza vaccine that led to his polio research.

The story behind the flu shot … it sounds a lot like the COVID vaccine story, doesn’t it?

I don’t think Salk would have a problem with the COVID vaccines.  In fact, he’d be amazed at the speed in which they were developed.  It took seven years to develop a polio vaccine.

Finally, my friend was extremely upset that Mercian-Webster “changed the definition of vaccine.”

Well, he’s got me there.  Technically speaking, they did.  But not in the way he means.

He bought into this nonsense, as described in USA TODAY

Merriam-Webster, the company known for its reference books and dictionaries, has become the source of online misinformation about vaccines.

"Vaccine used to be defined as a substances that provides 'immunity' to a specific disease," reads the text of an Instagram post shared Nov. 4. "Now, Merriam Webster has literally changed the definition of 'vaccine' and removed the 'immunity' portion in order to possibly cover for the fact that the COVID 'vaccines' don't actually provide immunity from COVID."

The truth?

According to an archived version of the dictionary's website, Merriam-Webster formerly said a "vaccine" was "a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease."

The new definition of "vaccine", published in May, reads: "a preparation that is administered – as by injection – to stimulate the body's immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease." 

The editors changed "artificially increase immunity" to "stimulate the body’s immune response" because they believed it would be more helpful to readers, according to [editor Peter] Sokolowski. 

"The definition (of) immune response provides a detailed description of how a vaccine actually works and is therefore more specific, scientific and complete than the more general term immunity," Sokolowski said.

Note that the old definition is not limited to vaccines that provide sterile immunity,

The new definition also describes mRNA vaccines and how they function.  The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines are mRNA vaccines.

There, I feel better…