FACT vs. FICTION:

1. At the end of the process, our bodies have learned how to protect against future infection. The benefit of mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is those vaccinated gain this protection without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19. 
2. mRNA vaccines cannot give someone COVID-19 because there is no virus material injected into the body because mRNA vaccines do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19

We are humbled each and every day that the coronavirus continues to mutate and ravage the health and safety of our planet. While we face the daily impact SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has on our global well-being, I hope to provide the reader with insight into both the science and the myth surrounding COVID-19, while they make long term health decisions for themselves and loved ones.  

As per our national reporting, the first outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) demonstrated itself with severe acute respiratory syndrome - coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in late 2019. The subsequent COVID-19 infection spread and became pandemic; affecting our global health and economy. In an attempt to reduce the spread of this deadly virus in the spring of 2020, we began to isolate ourselves from each other through social distancing and to wear masks in efforts to avoid spreading the contagion. Then what?

Let’s start with the vaccine. Many have questions about the vaccine. Historically, the vaccination process has artificially introduced an antigen into the body. An antigen is generally an infectious agent or pathogen –  such as bacteria or viruses - which has been inactivated by heat or chemical treatment so as not to cause the disease. Exposing the body to antigens leads to the production of molecules specifically directed against them, called antibodies. Antibodies create a memory of a specific pathogen (“acquired immunity”) and they enable a more rapid and efficient response to a real infection with an active pathogen, when and if it happens.  Hence, vaccines work by mimicking the infectious agent, i.e. pathogen and training our immune system to respond effectively against it if encountered in our natural environment. In 1798, the first smallpox vaccine was developed. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the systematic implementation of mass smallpox immunization culminated in the debatable global eradication of smallpox by 1979.

 

 What is the science of the current COVID-19 vaccines?

This vaccine is the first of its kind to ever be used as a defense for infection in humans. Scientifically, it is called a Nucleic Acid vaccine, but commonly, the 2 available COVID-19 vaccines are known as “Messenger RNA” vaccines, (mRNA vaccine). mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. 

While mRNA is a new technology, experts have been working on it for years. The genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 is very similar to two other coronaviruses – 79% identical to the original SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) from 2003, and around 50% identical to MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) from 2012.

Unlike traditional vaccines, the Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines don't use modified or killed forms of the virus. Rather, it relies on genetically engineered fragments of the COIVD-19 virus’ genetic code. What does this mean? 

The goal of both vaccines is the same: to provoke an immune response-- that will provide protection against infection.

To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the immune cells, the cells use them to make the spike protein.

 COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions to our immune cells to make the “spike protein” found on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. There’s a lot of spike protein on the outside of the virus, making it a prime target for our immune response. So most researchers have focused on the spike protein as the antigen for SARS-CoV-2.

The SARS-CoV-2 viral particle is covered by “spike” proteins. This spike protein binds to a molecule on the surface of lung cells called the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

 In theory, after the spike protein is made, OUR OWN cells display the spike protein piece on its surface. OUR immune systems recognize that the protein doesn’t belong in our body. It is at this junction that our immune system is supposed to begin building an immune response and making antibodies against the COVID virus as if there was a natural infection occurring in the body that we must mount an immune response to against COVID-19.

AGAIN, theoretically, our body breaks down and gets rid of the vaccine injected mRNA soon after it has completed its job, providing "instruction". ALSO in theory, mRNA vaccines do not affect or interact with our OWN DNA in any way and the mRNA never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA (genetic material) is kept.

 Diagrammatic representation of the Nucleic Acid vaccines to include the mRNA vaccine mechanism

• both of our current mRNA vaccines, rely on RNA encased in a lipid particle that ferries it into cells, where it is used as a template to generate a viral protein - the SPIKE PROTEIN - to stimulate the immune system.

 

 

I would like to remind everybody WHY I recommend ELDERBERRY during FLU and now COVID season.

I take natural medicine very seriously, so please do not consider alternative companies or substitutes for my current recommendations. I can only endorse what I recommend as an Integrative Medicine doctor-not its alternatives.

Elderberry, also name by its botanical name, Sambucus nigra, has been used since antiquity in herbal medicine. 

There are many benefits of elderberry extract, particularly with viruses. Virus cells take over our healthy cells by puncturing the cell wall with tiny spikes called hemagglutinins, which extend from the surface of the virus . This is the spike protein that the mRNA vaccine is engineered to weaken.

Remember, Elderberry has built it's reputation against viruses, in part, due to its ability to inhibit the activity and disarm these spikes. Elderberry binds the SPIKE PROTEIN of the virus, thwarting the virus from entering and invading our cells. 

In addition to Elderberry, the role of Vitamin C in viral infection prevention as well as treatment is ubiquitous. Suffice it to say that because we know that the measurable amount of Vitamin C INSIDE the IMMUNE FIGHTING WHITE BLOOD CELLS of the body, is MANY times higher than it is in plasma of blood, there are many functional roles for Vitamin C in the immune system.

  

Viral Prevention Program 

• Elderberry Tincture- 1 teaspoon in 1 oz (shotglass) of water daily
• Innate Response Vitamin C- 400 2 caplets daily or Innate Response C Powder- 1 scoop 

 To provide a snapshot into my research concerning the over 70.000 person patient population enrolled in the Moderna and Pfizer studies; the 95+% efficacy of the vaccines was encapsulated through 0.5% of this testing population over a period of 2-4 weeks into their respective studies. Digression on the FACTS vs. FICTION for the proof of vaccine efficacy is upcoming.