Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: a human enhancement story

Döbler, Niklas Alexander; Carbon, Claus-Christian

doi:10.1186/s41231-021-00104-2

Cited by 7 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…There has been an unprecedented worldwide effort to develop safe and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, which has resulted in the authorization of up to 30 vaccines based on different technologies and with different efficacy rates, 10 of which are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO, as of January 2022) ( https://covid19.trackvaccines.org/agency/who/ ). Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been engineered employing the main vaccine technologies currently available, including whole virus (inactivated), protein subunits, viral vectors, and nucleic acid strategies (mRNA and DNA) 1 , 2 ( https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-sinopharm-covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know ) ( https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-sinovac-covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know ) ( https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 ). More than 11.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, where inactivated vaccines (CoronaVac (Sinovac) and BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm)) have the highest number of delivered doses (45% worldwide, 65–85% efficacy) 3 , 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterologous immunization with inactivated vaccine followed by mRNA-booster elicits strong immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

et al. 2022

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The recent emergence of the Omicron variant has raised concerns on vaccine efficacy and the urgent need to study more efficient vaccination strategies. Here we observed that an mRNA vaccine booster in individuals vaccinated with two doses of inactivated vaccine significantly increased the plasma level of specific antibodies that bind to the receptor-binding domain (RBD) or the spike (S) ectodomain (S1 + S2) of both the G614 and the Omicron variants, compared to two doses of homologous inactivated vaccine. The level of RBD- and S-specific IgG antibodies and virus neutralization titers against variants of concern in the heterologous vaccination group were similar to that in individuals receiving three doses of homologous mRNA-vaccine or a boost of mRNA vaccine after infection, but markedly higher than that in individuals receiving three doses of a homologous inactivated vaccine. This heterologous vaccination regime furthermore significantly enhanced the RBD-specific memory B cell response and S1-specific T cell response, compared to two or three doses of homologous inactivated vaccine. Our study demonstrates that mRNA vaccine booster in individuals vaccinated with inactivated vaccines can be highly beneficial, as it markedly increases the humoral and cellular immune responses against the virus, including the Omicron variant.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterologous immunization with inactivated vaccine followed by mRNA-booster elicits strong immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

et al. 2022

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“…To properly assess these ndings, one must remember that Human Enhancement is an umbrella term for a wide range of interventions [21,22]. Vaccination, being a critical issue on its own, is inevitably related to Human Enhancement due to its features of employing technology to improve human capacities [12]. Although vaccination is not usually explicitly referred to as "Human Enhancement," motifs that drive opposing both phenomena may be very similar.…”

Section: Rationalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous study [12] with N = 67 (97% vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 or willing to do so), participants were asked to rate different examples on their quali cation as an instance of Human Enhancement. To further investigate public opinion on this issue, we wanted to include a more heterogeneous sample with the number of unvaccinated participants corresponding to the proportion in Germany when the present study was conducted.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vaccinations are biotechnology that enhances the human body's given capacity. In this regard, vaccination can be classi ed as an instance of Human Enhancement [12], a term used to describe techno-scienti c interventions intended to create improved, optimized, or even "better" humans [13][14][15]. The ethical arguments around this issue are notoriously utopian or dystopian [15][16][17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Boosting human capacities: How vaccination behavior and intention relates to attitudes toward vaccination, Human Enhancement, and naturalness

Döbler

Carbon

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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Background: Even if vaccinations are widely available, a considerable number of people reject them. As sophisticated biotechnologies capable of augmenting the human body's capacities, vaccinations are an instance of Human Enhancement (HE): The effort to use technologies to improve humans. Global vaccination efforts against SARS-CoV-2 evoke public concerns similar to those in the general HE debate, namely, naturalness and invasiveness. We explore these variables and their connection to vaccination behavior in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted an online survey (N = 314 persons) with 256 participants (81.5%) vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 and n = 58 (18.5%) not vaccinated. Participants answered questions concerning their attitudes on nature and naturalness, willingness to use cognitive enhancement methods, HE, psychological effects of vaccination, and planned vaccination. Several Bayesian regression models were constructed to predict the willingness to use cognitive enhancement, attitudes toward vaccinations and HE, and whether people plan for further vaccination doses. Results: Participants were more willing to use methods to improve cognitive abilities if considered natural, non-invasive, and not used frequently. A less affirmative attitude toward naturalness was also associated with more willingness to use. Effects were primarily moderated by vaccination status. Vaccinated and unvaccinated participants differed substantially, especially in measures that reflected the attitude toward naturalness and related phenomena. Participants did not assess vaccinations as a prime example of HE. Rating of vaccination as enhancement did not reliably predict attitude on vaccination nor HE. More affirmative attitudes toward naturalness and not being vaccinated were negatively associated with the attitude toward vaccinations and HE. A positive attitude toward HE predicted a more positive attitude toward vaccinations. Support of disease control measures and attitude toward vaccinations positively predicted vaccination intention. Receiving the vaccination led to psychological relief. Conclusions: Motives of vaccination and HE refusal appear to be linked. Interventions considered unnatural and invasive are deemed unfavorable. These reasons seem more pronounced for unvaccinated participants. If HE, e.g., vaccination, constitutes an essential public health measure, concerns about the human relationship to nature, perceived naturalness, and sanctity of the human body must be sufficiently and thoughtfully addressed.

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“…All currently approved or licensed COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill. Vaccination can reduce the spread of the disease and help protect those who are vaccinated and the people around them [ 6 ]. However, like other vaccines, they are not 100% effective; some of those who are fully vaccinated will become infected with COVID-19, although most people who become ill with COVID-19 are not vaccinated [ 7 ]. By 27 January 2021, there were 364,075,086 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,631,304 deaths worldwide, and a total of 9,890,987,656 vaccine doses had been administered [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convalescent Plasma Therapy, Therapeutic Formulations of Repurposed Drugs in 20th Century Epidemics against COVID-19: A Systematic Review

Fernández-Lázaro

Ortega²,

Sánchez-Serrano

et al. 2022

Pharmaceutics

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Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) represents one of the largest pandemics the world has faced, and it is producing a global health crisis. To date, the availability of drugs to treat COVID-19 infections remains limited to supportive care although therapeutic options are being explored. Some of them are old strategies for treating infectious diseases. convalescent plasma (CP) therapy has been used successfully in other viral outbreaks in the 20th century. In this study, we systematically evaluated the effect and safety of CP therapy on hospitalized COVID-19 patients. A structured search was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines using Medline (PubMed), SciELO, Cochrane Library Plus, Web of Science, and Scopus. The search included articles published up to January 2022 and was restricted to English- and Spanish-language publications. As such, investigators identified six randomized controlled trials that met the search criteria. The results determined that in hospitalized COVID-19 patients the administration of CP therapy with a volume between 200–500 mL and a single transfusion performed in 1–2 h, compared to the control group, decreased viral load, symptomatology, the period of infection, and mortality, without serious adverse effects. CP did influence clinical outcomes and may be a possible treatment option, although further studies will be necessary.

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Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: a human enhancement story

Cited by 7 publications

References 53 publications

Heterologous immunization with inactivated vaccine followed by mRNA-booster elicits strong immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Heterologous immunization with inactivated vaccine followed by mRNA-booster elicits strong immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Boosting human capacities: How vaccination behavior and intention relates to attitudes toward vaccination, Human Enhancement, and naturalness

Convalescent Plasma Therapy, Therapeutic Formulations of Repurposed Drugs in 20th Century Epidemics against COVID-19: A Systematic Review

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