Here is the original article I will be discussing: LINK
Here are my thoughts. First off, “covid” written as it is in the title immediately makes me think twice about the content of the article, as it should be capitalized (i.e., “COVID-19”).
I found it hilarious that the article mentioned that Facebook would remove false claims or conspiracy theories about the vaccines and not because I think that is the proper thing to do. I found it hilarious because of the examples the article gives of “false claims” or “conspiracy theories”. The 2nd of which is that the vaccine would contain luciferase and that it makes people think of the devil. First off, the reason why a lot of scientific technology use luciferase is because it is a fantastic marker that can be used for quantification purposes. In the actual vaccine, they would not use luciferase. For gene therapies, in pre-clinical studies, luciferase is commonly used. Regarding luciferase making people think of the devil, that is absolutely logical and the reason why is not a coincidence. The reason why people think of the devil is because of the word “lucifer” in “luciferase”. “-ase’ is the ending referring to the fact that the entity is an enzyme. Lucifer means light. The devil’s other name is Lucifer and it has to do with his status in heaven before he “fell spiritually”. He was the bringer of light before he became the devil.
I very much enjoyed the article. However, the main aspect I would have changed is the discussion regarding preservatives used as excipients, such as thimerosal. The article in the ingredient list mentioned sucrose and further below they mentioned the purpose of sucrose. They state it is a “plain old sugar” and that it is used as a cryoprotectant. The author makes it sound as though there is no preservative in the vaccine. The sucrose is acting exactly like a preservative and should be considered a preservative, as that is what a cryoprotectant is doing. The author made it sound as though there are no preservatives in the vaccine because the word “preservative” has a negative connotation, in my opinion. Most people would understand that a preservative is needed in some capacity. There are also many other types of preservatives that are common that are used in many formulations that do not contain mercury. For example, sucrose, dextrose, including other sugars, antioxidants (i.e., vitamin E, vitamin C, BHA, BHT), benzoates, sorbates, EDTA, ethanol, tocopherol, amongst others.
One thing the article should also discuss is the need to increase the minimum temperature required for storage. It is extremely challenging to get the vaccine particularly to 3rd world countries when shipment requires such low temperatures.
Best wishes,
Pharmacoengineering.com