Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is severe and has not shown any signs of warning up to today. Biotech companies around the world have raced to come up with an acceptable vaccine and recently two mRNA vaccines have received emergency usage authorisation from regulatory bodies in several countries. mRNA vaccines, which consist of a new and revolutionary technology have not been previously tested widely on humans. Medium- and long-term safety data are not available. While many experts seem to support the start of a mass vaccination campaign, others feel there are too many unknowns to embark on a mass vaccination campaign. Concerns include uncertainties about the long-term effects of foreign mRNA on human cellular physiology and the possibility of vaccine-enhanced disease severity, which may not be unlikely with the current disease presentation of COVID-19.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is severe and has not shown any signs of warning up to today
Up to mid-January 2021, the pandemic has caused more than two million confirmed deaths worldwide (1) and many nations have faced a critical situation with insufficient intensive care unit (ICU) beds for severely affected patients
Even though the above-mentioned manuscript (2) mentions an unjustified optimistic statement about this issue, this may be among the biggest long-term concerns, especially if patients in the future get infected with mutated strains of the virus. It took another company close to 10 years to research the safety of Dengvaxia, a dengue vaccine, but it took only a very short time after mass vaccination for disaster to strike in the Philippines, with children experiencing increased disease severity after receiving Dengvaxia (3)
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is severe and has not shown any signs of warning up to today. On 11 December 2020, under strong political pressure, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States granted an emergency use authorisation for the first of these mRNA-based vaccines. Letter to the Editor | Thoughts on mass vaccination against COVID-19 and efficacious (2).
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