During COVID-19 outbreaks, divisive debates ensue regarding the role of public health in enforcing policies to close schools. While mental health detriments to children and their families are well documented (Christie, Hope, et al. 2020), some facts surrounding the extent of children’s viral loads and infection susceptibility remain unclear.
Research in 2022 by Seery et al. suggests that “although children and youth are less severely affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection in most cases, they develop a strong and more sustained antibody immune response in comparison with adults. Importantly, the ability to mount a more vigorous antibody response is clearly expressed in the development of a higher antibody response against the Omicron variant following infections by pre-Omicron variants.” In other words, not only do children suffer milder symptoms of COVID-19 when exposed, but they also sustain a stronger and more prolonged immunological response, even against future variants after their infection.
This fact is quite interesting and may have an impact on future public policy when it comes to school closures or vaccine mandates for children. My personal experience as a mother to two young children confirms this finding of less infection in children as compared to adults. When my children and I got COVID-19, I suffered a moderate case. My son’s knee ached for 30 seconds (as opposed to ongoing severe pain in my hips) and my 2-year-old had zero symptoms. I have heard similar reports from other parents and read related findings in other articles.
The second “fact” I will discuss is the idea that the COVID-19 vaccine is increasing population infection rate and virulency. This is a common idea in some circles and perpetuated by many public figures, including Dr. Tyna, a board-certified Chiropractic and Naturopathic doctor. In one of her latest blogs, she states: “our constant boosting campaign may very well be driving these increasingly more infectious and potentially more virulent strains” (Moore 2022). However, the research does not support this broad statement for the most part, for various reasons:
If this were true, COVID-19 infections and death would have increased after vaccinations were initiated in 2020. In fact, the opposite is the case with a decrease in infection of 54-62% in people aged 65 and older, and a decrease in hospitalizations and death by 63.5% (Moghadas et al. 2020).
There is still debate about whether COVID-19 has or can mutate to become more virulent. Between increased immunity due to natural infection and vaccination, it does seem that there are fewer deaths, even if there are more infections. It seems that there is nothing conclusive that states that new variants are more virulent. In a 2022 study, Wolter, Nicole et al. stated: “Newly emerged Omicron lineages BA.4/BA.5 showed similar severity to the BA.1 lineage and continued to show reduced clinical severity compared to the Delta variant”. That is to say, the Delta variant had more severe disease outcomes than the later Omicron variants of BA.1 and BA.4/BA.5.” This supports the statement that variants are not becoming more clinically dangerous. While we don’t have all the answers yet, Dr. Tyna’s statement that the virus is becoming more virulent is not conclusively found.
I was going to look for research that discounted Dr. Tyna’s claim that vaccines are driving mutations. However, I was shocked to discover this is being shown in some recent research: “Our results implied that the widely extended use of COVID-19 vaccines and immune pressures in vaccinated individuals could be one of the explanations for driving the genetic mutation and evolution of S gene of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, S protein is the major protein used as a target in COVID-19 vaccines, and the interaction between the receptor binding region (RBD) of the S gene and host receptor cells Links to an external site.could accelerate the genetic mutation of the S gene of SARS-CoV-2 virus under vaccine pressures” (Yang et al. 2022). In other words, vaccine use has driven some specific vaccine-targeted proteins in the virus to mutate faster, in countries where there was wide vaccine intake. Thus, Dr. Tyna has a point that vaccines may be causing more rapid mutations. However, it has yet to be proven that the new viruses are more virulent. This is certainly possible, but there is not enough research to confirm this.
Doing this project confirmed how difficult it is to separate fact from falsity. It does seem clear that children are better protected against COVID-19. However, I assumed Dr. Tyna was completely wrong in everything she said in the quoted statement but upon deeper research, I found there to be contradictory evidence. After doing this research, I personally think that vaccines may indeed drive more mutations, however, it does seem to have protected most of us from severe diseases. Perhaps we need to increase focus on pharmaceutical treatments in the case that COVID-19 does mutate beyond the scope of the vaccine.
This was a humbling experience and I look forward to the continuing findings on this fascinating and ever-evolving subject, and the strategies to fight COVID-19.
REFERENCES
Christie, Hope, et al. "Examining Harmful Impacts of the COVID‐19 Pandemic and School Closures on Parents and Carers in the United Kingdom: A Rapid Review." JCPP Advances, vol. 2, no. 3, 2022, pp. n/a. https://acamh-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/doi/full/10.1002/jcv2.12095Links to an external site.
Seery, Vanesa, et al. “Antibody Response against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in Children Infected with Pre-Omicron Variants: An Observational Cohort Study.” EBioMedicine, vol. 83, no. 104230, 2022, p. 104230, doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104230. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352396422004121Links to an external site.
Moore, Tyna. “The Plan Is NOT Working so Well.” Dr. Tyna Show Podcast & Censorship-Free Blog, 30 Sept. 2022, https://drtyna.substack.com/p/the-plan-is-not-working-so-wellLinks to an external site.
Moghadas, Seyed M., et al. “The Impact of Vaccination on COVID-19 Outbreaks in the United States.” MedRxiv : The Preprint Server for Health Sciences, 2021, doi:10.1101/2020.11.27.20240051. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7709178/Links to an external site.
Wolter, Nicole et al. “Clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 lineages compared to BA.1 and Delta in South Africa.” Nature communications vol. 13,1 5860. 4 Oct. 2022, doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33614-0 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36195617/Links to an external site.
Yang, Jing, et al. “Relatively Rapid Evolution Rates of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Gene at the Primary Stage of Massive Vaccination.” Biosafety and Health, vol. 4, no. 4, 2022, pp. 228–233, doi:10.1016/j.bsheal.2022.07.001. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9277989/Links to an external site.