Dr. IV Mirus on Covid-19 vaccines
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Hello, Dr. IV Mirus! Good to see you again. How are you doing so far?
Dr. IV Mirus:
I’m doing all right. I’m now seeing a big wave with Covid-19. Things are getting more serious. But I’m sure you’re aware of the news about the vaccine becoming available!
The Daily Moth (Alex):
How important is this vaccine from your viewpoint as a doctor?
Dr. IV Mirus:
Alex, I’m serious, this is historical. This vaccine is now the beginning of the end of Covid-19. It is really exciting news. A lot of things have happened this week. On December 8th, Pfizer released this data. In this document. It is a collection of all the studies from 44,000 people who received shots. Half of them did not get the actual Covid-19 vaccine, but the other half did get it. They were monitored over four months. The data is beautiful! What it shows is that the group who got the “fake” (placebo) vaccines — they did become infected with Covid-19. There were spikes. But for the other group, those who received the Pfizer test vaccine, the prototype vaccine, there were no infections or spikes. The numbers were studied by epidemiologists, data scientists, public health scientists, and they said it looked good. It’s really great news. It’s really historic, game-changing news.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Who gets the vaccine first, second, and third? How is your hospital handling it with deciding the order?
Dr. IV Mirus:
The CDC had a meeting to make this plan. What it looks like — the government bought a supply of 100 million vaccines. Now, this Pfizer vaccine requires two doses taken three weeks apart. So after the first shot, three weeks later, you’ll get the same shot again. The government has 100 million vaccines so it means we can inoculate 50 million people. The priority groups here at my hospital at the University of Rochester, as well as all over the US, is to focus on healthcare workers. Those who are fighting on the front lines. People like nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, and all of the others, they are getting sick. It is hard to prevent that. If you don’t have enough personnel, how can we work with patients? You can’t. So the priority is front line workers. So this week I will be getting my vaccine, hopefully. It’s really moving fast. The next group will focus on nursing homes. Why? Because when people live together in a contained environment, infection can spread fast. Those who live in nursing homes are already at a very high risk for infection. So we need to help those who are at high risk. The third group is the immunocompromised, those who are already sick or are on chemotherapy. We have to be careful with them. We are still collecting data on if it’s safe for this group. We’re not sure yet. The next group is those 65 years of age and those who already have diseases of the lungs. Once we meet all of the above’s needs, then the general population can get the vaccines.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
You know, from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic up to now, you’ve been waiting for that needle!
Dr. IV Mirus:
Yeah!
The Daily Moth (Alex):
It’s amazing how it’s gotten to…
Dr. IV Mirus:
It’s here now! It is here now. I mean, this is historic. We’re not going to forget this. I feel inspired, just like people back then who were dealing with polio. Children were unable to breathe and they were paralyzed and had to stay in big metal tubes for the rest of their lives. It was truly horrible. But then a man named Jonas Salk came up with a vaccine and when it rolled out, that was it. We’re at a similar point in history.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Wow. You’ve helped me to have that perspective. I feel like it’s a bit lost over the election, this whole 2020 year, this holiday season, there’s a lot of things going on. So it’s like, okay, we have a vaccine here. It’s just another vaccine. But you’ve helped me to see that no, this is historic! This will end it.
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Dr. IV Mirus:
How do vaccines work? It’s in a simple way, it is a message. It is just a simple message to your immune system. It is a warning, a notification that there is a serious virus or an illness out there. Your immune system will be warned that this is happening. How does that work? The vaccine is like a picture, it’s a photograph of a dangerous person, which is the virus. That image is put in the vaccine, and when it is inserted in your body, your immune system will see that image and say, “Oh, now I know what they look like.” The system will pass the information throughout the entire immune system so when the virus comes in your body to cause an infection, your immune system will be prepared and be ready to fight instead of waiting. It will go ahead and fight. That is what a vaccine is. It’s really simple. mRNA, that’s the type of vaccine, the “m” stands for messenger. This vaccine is a message to your immune system to warn it. It is safe. It is safe, indeed.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
I like how you explain it. We know that there are side effects, such as chills or pain at the site, or reactions for those who have allergies, but again as you mentioned, there was a large-scale study with 44,000 people, right?
Dr. IV Mirus:
Right, 44,000 people.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
So you split that up to 22,000 people, and there’s nothing, there was nothing horrible — I think that people should trust in that 22,000 figure. Go ahead and take the vaccine and fight the disease. It makes sense.
Dr. IV Mirus:
The numbers look good. Let me get it. 84% had a site reaction. It means there is soreness and some pain. That’s to be expected. 62% had fatigue. 55% had headaches. 38% had pain in the arm. 14% had a fever. That’s it. Those things are expected when you have a vaccine. A fever is a natural part of your immune system waking up. It’s getting ready and learning. This is wonderful. There were only two people who received the vaccine who died, but it was unrelated to the vaccine. It had to do with a heart attack or other factors. So this vaccine is, like I said earlier, historic. The data is good. There is consensus among scientists. This is really amazing and impressive. It’s not like the last time when we talked about HCQ, hydroxychloroquine.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
I remember that.
Dr. IV Mirus:
You remember that? The data was lousy. But there were still people who argued that it would work. But that’s gone away since, right?
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Yes, I haven’t seen anything.
Dr. IV Mirus:
You’re not hearing any talk about HCQ.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Nothing.
Dr. IV Mirus:
When President Trump was hospitalized with coronavirus, he didn’t receive HCQ.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
No, he didn’t.
Dr. IV Mirus:
We knew it wouldn’t work. Now, we know that this vaccine will work. So, this is a time for celebration but for the next two, three, and four months, we have a lot of work to do.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
It feels like we’re so close, but it’s getting harder. I look at this way, which would you rather get, the vaccine or the coronavirus? Which is scarier? I would rather take the vaccine than to deny it and end up with the coronavirus, which can possibly kill you. The vaccine will not kill you, while 300,000 died from the virus. The other side has no deaths. I think you can just look at the numbers.
Dr. IV Mirus:
I understand that it is a personal decision, but we need you! We need everyone to join the fight. It is a team effort. It is about public health, not the health of one person. It’s the health of America. Right now we are failing. So this is a chance for us to catch up and prevent more lives from being lost. We can end this so we can go back to “normal” life. This is how we do it! We know how. So let’s do it.
My advice to you is to get the vaccine, when you can. Maintain social distancing. Continue to isolate and staying home. I know many of you are hoping to go out for Christmas, to see family. But, I can’t recommend that now. I just can’t. I have already cancelled my flight home. Times are hard right now but things will get better. It will.
The Daily Moth (Alex):
Yes. Very strong message from you. I really appreciate your time and your important work.
Dr. IV Mirus:
Of course.
To view our previous interview about HCQ (August 4): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=303932080950617
To view another interview on dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic (in March): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5m8NDOi6V8&feature=emb_title