Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1290275
13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA A group of activists is claiming to rep- resent some 1,800 members on a Face- book group that will refuse any man- datory vaccination against COVID-19 without independent, peer-reviewed studies proving their safety. As the global scramble for a coronavi- rus vaccine continues in a bid to ward off the virus that has shutdown entire sections of the global economy, not everyone is enthusiastic about the first vaccine that will come on the market. One spokesperson for the Natural Health Alliance, the environmental ac- tivist and Gaia Foundation coordinator Rudolf Ragonesi, is one of the sceptics on any mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. He says the alliance will act as a watchdog and source of informa- tion, and to call on the Maltese govern- ment to sign the Oviedo convention on human rights and biomedicine. "There has been a movement across the world and even in Malta, albeit more silent, which represents an ap- proach to health that does not put pharmacology at the centre of its uni- verse… It seeks to follow a philosophy on natural health," Ragonesi said. The first delivery of a COVID-19 vac- cine could be expected in Malta in De- cember, despite a pause in clinical tri- als, virologist Chris Barbara said. The most advanced experimental vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical compa- ny AstraZeneca and Oxford University was put on hold after a volunteer devel- oped an unexplained illness. With news that Malta is in line for 330,000 doses of a prospective drug against COVID-19, Ragonesi says that the cohort of people signing up to the Natural Health Alliance is demanding "freedom of choice" in medicine. "Human rights must be respected during a health crisis, and that includes the freedom to live without interrup- tion. Our petition is quite broad; it's not just about the vaccine." More specifically, Ragonesi says the alliance is keen on independent scien- tific research that validates medicine, rather than sceptic about a vaccine. He claims the World Health Organisation itself is compromised by the influence of its two main State funders – the United States and the United Kingdom – and its third largest funder, the pri- vate Bill and Melinda Gates Founda- tion. "The WHO is an institution and doesn't have the same force as a sci- entific study. If the WHO says, 'we are approving this vaccine based on these 10 independent studies giving these results', then they are quoting prima- ry sources. That's entirely different to simply giving a blanket rubber stamp to the product." The Gates Foundation invested in Pfizer back in 2002 and still owns shares, as well as in Pfizer's coronavi- rus development partner, BioNTech. "There's the issue of funding. Bill Gates himself has gone on record saying that he expects a 20 to 1 return on invest- ment in vaccines. This is the person who has funded the WHO, so we can- not rely on their statements. We want to see independent scientific studies," Ragonesi says. The activist has denied that the alli- ance is a front for anti-vaxxers. "We want transparency. No vaccine will be 100% safe or harm-free – there are a lot of shades of grey. A bit of research will show you that all vaccines on the mar- ket have reactions. "We are not saying 'don't trust the manufacturers' – but to rely on inde- pendent studies, and once these inde- pendent studies have been complet- ed, it will be on these studies that the health authorities acquire the vaccine." But Ragonesi indicates that the alli- ance would oppose any mandatory vac- cination against COVID-19. "It would be the first time in Malta that such a vaccine be made mandatory for adults… we would be opening ourselves up to a totally new reality… a totally different paradigm, since the laws regulating in- fectious disease focus primarily on the immunisation of children." The alliance's petition to MPs is in- sisting that no exception can be made to the exercise of fundamental free- doms, something that however might also attract support from faiths which are inimical to vaccinations. "We have a fundamental right to freedom of con- science and to exercise our preferred choice in matters of personal health for our bodies and minds are our most valuable possessions, over which we alone enjoy sovereignty," the petition- ers claim. lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt Sceptics mount petition against mandatory COVID-19 vaccine Vaccination: what scientists say IT is unclear if an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – will protect against subse- quent reinfection. Any infection initially activates an in- nate immune response: white blood cells triggering inflammation. This may be enough to clear a virus. But in more pro- longed infections, the adaptive immune system is activated, where T cells detect and kill the virus's distinct structures – antigens – while B cells produce antibod- ies that neutralise the virus. The first time a person is infected with a virus, this adaptive immune response is delayed, because it takes a few days before immune cells understand how to control infection. But some of these T and B cells, called memory cells, persist long after the in- fection is resolved. So it is these memory cells that are crucial for long-term pro- tection when there is a subsequent infec- tion by the same virus. A vaccine mimics this primary infec- tion, providing antigens that prime the adaptive immune system and generating memory cells that can be activated rapid- ly in the event of a real infection. However, as the antigens in the vaccine are derived from weakened or non-infec- tious material from the virus, there is lit- tle risk of severe infection. Vaccines have advantages over natural infections: they can be designed to focus the immune system against specific anti- gens that elicit better responses. For example, the HPV vaccine elicits a stronger immune response than infec- tion by the virus itself, because it contains high concentrations of a viral coat pro- tein – more than what would occur in a natural infection. On the other hand, natural immunity against HPV is especially weak, as the vi- rus uses various tactics to evade the host immune system. So a vaccine with acces- sible antigens provides a better response to a natural infection. Of the roughly 320 vaccines being de- veloped against COVID-19, one that fa- vours a strong T cell response may be the key to long-lasting immunity. Maitreyi Shivkumar, Senior Lectur- er in Molecular Biology, De Montfort University TheConversation.eu "We are not saying 'don't trust the manufacturers' – but to rely on independent studies"