The unholy crusade against COVID-19 vaccines – Part 2

According to the fraternity of calumny, the Coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, both of which use the new messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, are satanic inventions. In their telling, the mRNA vaccine is a covert plan to implant tiny trackable microchips in people. These microchips have an inscription “666” which is the mark of the beast described in the Book of Revelation. The secret plan is allegedly spearheaded by Bill Gates who, they allege, owns majority shares in the drug companies that made the vaccines, and is also the representative of the anti-Christ.

In addition, the societal gadflies claim that mRNA can alter human DNA with the potential to turn human beings into monkeys and mindless robots that can be controlled by the leaders of the new world order. Some of the rumormongers have even gone so far as to suggest that anyone who gets vaccinated with the mRNA vaccines will inadvertently allow invasion of their bodies by incubus and succubus, which are male and female demons, respectively, that have sex with human beings in their dreams.

What these conspiracists have conjured up would have been funny if it weren’t for the fact that it is deadly. The cynicism and irrationality of it all befuddles the mind. The conspiracy theories belie incredulity.

Half literacy is a dangerous thing, far worse than stark illiteracy. Many of those who spin these COVID-19 vaccine lies are often half literates with some medical background which confers the lies they tell some degree of plausibility and veneer of credibility. And this is the reason these people constitute an ever-present danger to the health and well-being of those who listen to their quackery. Many will die who follow the nonsense they spread.

Here is what you should know about vaccines and these are the facts about messenger RNA vaccines.

Conventional vaccines contain inactivated disease-causing organisms or proteins made from the disease-causing organism (i.e. antigens) and they work by mimicking the infectious agent. They stimulate the body’s immune response, so it is primed to respond more rapidly and effectively if exposed to the infectious agent in the future.

RNA vaccines, on the other hand, use a different approach that takes advantage of the process that cells of the body use to make proteins: cells use DNA as the template to make messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, which are then translated to build proteins. An RNA vaccine consists of an mRNA strand that codes for a disease-specific antigen. Once the mRNA strand in the vaccine is inside the body’s cells, the cells use the genetic information to produce the antigen. This antigen is then displayed on the cell surface, where it is recognized by the immune system.

In a May 2017 article on CNBC website, Andrew Zaleski wrote about the Moderna’s mRNA technology, which was then being developed for the Zika vaccine.

Traditionally, the biotech industry manufactures drugs outside of the body that are then ingested or injected. Moderna wants to flip the script by using messenger RNA, or mRNA. Inside everyone, there are about 22,000 proteins. Our DNA contains the instructions to produce each one of these 22,000 proteins. But when our body needs to make more of a specific protein, it produces a copy of the instructions for producing that one protein. That copy is mRNA – think of it as the software to the hardware of DNA.

By injecting synthetic mRNA into the body, Moderna says it can direct the body’s cells to make proteins, turning cells themselves into drug-producing facilities. For vaccines the approach is the same. Injecting the mRNA associated with Zika should prompt the body’s cells to produce proteins that Zika needs to replicate and survive. When presented with those proteins, the immune system will react as it does to the natural virus, producing antibodies to fight future infections – even though a person hasn’t really been infected with Zika. Through Moderna’s mRNA technology the antibodies needed to fight a true Zika infection will already have been made.

“We get cells to make proteins from within in a way that the biotech industry, which makes those proteins outside of the human body, can’t,” said Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer.

This is the same mechanism used by the Coronavirus mRNA vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna. An advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they are not made from particles of a disease-causing organism or inactivated pathogen, so they are non-infectious. Contrary to the conspiracy theories, RNAs do not enter the nucleus of the human cells, so they cannot manipulate human genome or DNA. Also, the RNA strand in the vaccines is degraded once the protein is made.

The danger posed by spreading vaccine disinformation and misinformation is real and it is best illustrated by the 2003 boycott of the polio vaccine in northern Nigeria that originated from a baseless rumour that the oral polio immunization was an attempt to sterilize Muslim children. The Conversation documented that unfortunate incident as follows:

“When a rumour surfaced in 2003 that Nigeria’s polio vaccine was possibly being contaminated with anti-fertility agents, a boycott of the vaccine ensued and the country’s polio immunization campaign was dealt a heavy blow. The boycott lasted for nearly 15 months – from February 2003 to July 2004 – and it had devastating consequences. The polio caseload shot up. And by 2008, Nigeria alone accounted for 86% of all the polio cases on the continent. Since the boycott the country has struggled to be declared polio free.”

The boycotts proved a huge setback for polio eradication. Incidence of polio in Nigeria jumped from 202 in 2002 to 1143 in 2006 and Nigerian strains of the virus spread across Africa and beyond. Outbreak response activities cost the GPEI over $500 million (Ghinai et al, 2013).

A tree is known by its fruits. Bad trees do not produce good fruits. Vaccines save lives, they are not evil and certainly not the devil’s invention. There is no global conspiracy to achieve a new world order through mass vaccination. The doctors and scientists working tirelessly to develop vaccines for COVID-19 are not priests in satanic cults conspiring to put the mark of the beast on people or working to turn human bodies over to incubus and succubus to satisfy their insatiable libido. Getting vaccinated with coronavirus vaccines will not surreptitiously re-engineer your DNA and turn you into unthinking monkeys or baboons.

Bill Gates is not a forerunner of the anti-Christ, he has no interest in mind control. He is just a man blessed by God who is using the wealth that God has given him for the benefit of mankind. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed more to advance the cause of humanity and has done more good in the world than all the Pentecostal churches and their affiliated organizations combined. Bill Gates has given more to the poor, fed more hungry people, cured more diseases, and given sight to more blind eyes than all the self-proclaimed prophets, faith healers, and deliverance ministers in the world.

Wizen up, people. Be wise, be smart, be curious. Question and scrutinize everything you hear, watch, or read. Don’t turn yourself to a disposable pawn in somebody else’s chess board. Educate and inform yourself from news sources that are reputable, reliable and trustworthy. Most of the information that flashes across your social media platforms is harmful and may kill you. Just because someone has an MD after their name doesn’t make them experts in infectious diseases or all areas of medicine; not all doctors are vaccine savants. Prognosticating on YouTube doesn’t confer expertise. Enough of the foolish babbles and old wives’ tales. Quit quenching your thirst from the poisonous well of conspiracy theories.
Concluded.
Ojumu, MD, MPH, wrote from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.