Editorial: Covid 19 vaccine is a shot in the arm for NZ

A vial of the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19. Photo / Ted S. Warren, AP, File

Editorial

EDITORIAL

News that the vaccinators were receiving the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination shots yesterday is a real shot in the arm after some trying times.

Casting back to this time last year when the full effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic was being realised, it would have been heartening indeed to know then that a vaccine was only a year away.

Since that time, we have watched a modern medical marvel unfold as researchers advanced as never before to crack the genomic code and design a shield to this global menace.

New Zealand has been doubly fortunate in buying time for the arrival of the vaccine - we have remained largely unscathed by world standards and been able to watch the vaccine trials and introduction elsewhere with impunity.

Vaccines work by teaching the body's immune system to respond quickly to infection without being exposed to the infection itself.

Traditionally, most vaccines introduce modified versions, or bits of the virus, to prompt the immune system to make protective antibodies. When a real infection is encountered, the body is prepared to fight it off.

Some of the Covid-19 vaccines however, such as the Pfizer vaccine, are known as "messenger RNA" vaccines. These vaccines don't use virus cells at all – instead they contain a piece of RNA code that essentially teaches the body to recognise the virus, so it can respond straight away to infection.

Come on, whanau of 5 million; put your best upper arm into the effort.