Wednesday, December 16, 2020
The COVID-19 Vaccine How Does it Work? By Matt Hubbard This time last year some people were gathered, huddled together while shopping for Christmas gifts. This year some people are huddled indoors, eagerly awaiting their turn for the COVID-19 vaccine. With that in mind, The O’Colly spoke with the head of microbiology at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Tyrell Conway, to provide an explanation to what goes into making a vaccine and how it works. Q: Will you be getting the vaccine? Tyrell Conway: I plan to take it, to be vaccinated. Q: How do you feel about those that aren’t? TC: The whole anti-vaccine movement, has been thoroughly discredited by science, you know these vaccines have been distributed to billions of people if you think about the DTP (Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis) or some of the other ones that are in common use, the ones you take before you start school. I don’t know how these myths get started, but that’s what they are. They’re myths. Q: Why was it approved in the U.K before the United States? TC: The reason it was approved sooner in the U.K is Unsplash because our FDA works difThe COVID-19 vaccine was recently approved by the FDA. ferently than theirs does. They work with the data provided by the manufacturer, actually before, they’ve only been used even skeptical, I’m just telling the summary of the data. FDA in trials and that’s the messenyou that science isn’t going to acdoesn’t do that, they take all ger RNA mechanism. So, we cept that there are no side effects the data from the phase 3 trials don’t know yet when it’s been until we have the data, but I’ve and they do their own analygiven to hundreds of millions known about these nucleic acid sis. So, we have a more thorof people, if there are going to vaccines since the 1980’s. It was ough system. At any rate what be any adverse reactions. So, I a pretty crazy idea that you could I started to say was both the say that because that’s the way just inject a nucleic acid DNA or Moderna and Pfizer BioNtech a scientist thinks. You have to RNA into a cell or into an animal vaccines are something that prove it to me, right? I’m not and elicit an immune response, have never been widely used
but that’s how our body responds. Q: Why do you think they picked this way as developing a vaccine as opposed to other ways? TC: Because it’s so fast. So, they had, when they were given the money, probably even before they were given the money before from Operation Warp Speed. Well first of all we had the genome sequence of the virus, the one that emerged in Wuhan, China, and they know enough similar viruses to know that this spike protein on the surface of the virus, is how the virus attaches to our cells and once it attaches the virus has to internalize into our cells in order to replicate. It is simply a package with RNA inside that has to turn itself into virus that then spreads through the body and to other people. So, they already knew what the target was, they had the gene sequence. So, they then took that gene sequence and made messenger RNA from it, with that sequence, you can synthesize that and so that’s why it was so fast. They knew what the target was and they could go into the lab and make it, actually there are machines that make RNA and it doesn’t cost very much and you can do it in an afternoon. So, they were very rapidly use what they call humanized mice. So, these are mice that essentially have the mouse immune system replaced with a human immune system, and they can go in there and test and develop a dozen vaccines in an afternoon, make them the next day and inject animals the next week. See Vaccine on page 2
Cowboys prepare for more talented teams come start of conference play
Dean Ruhl A spotless 6-0. Excluding a game against Arkansas on Jan. 30, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were able to accumulate a 6-0 record against nonconference opponents this season, capped off by a 67-64 victory over Wichita State on Saturday. “(The Wichita State game) felt like a Big-12 game,” head coach Mike Boynton said. “The intensity, the physicality, teams making plays on both sides.” Freshman guard Rondel Walker, who is third on the team in points per game with 9.2, had similar things to say about the game atmosphere on Saturday. “Going into Big 12 play, it gave us a little glimpse of what it’s going to be like night in and night out,” Walker said. With a shorter nonconference schedule compared to years past, the Cowboys’ spotless record has been
especially important in preparing them for Big 12 play, which will start tomorrow night against TCU. “The nonconference, in my mind, is always to prepare you for conference season,” Boynton said. “We’ve seen a little bit of everything, we’ve been on the road multiple times.” Other highlights include a win over perennial tournament contender Marquette by eight and a 20-point win over Texas Southern. The Cowboys will get their first taste of a ranked opponent on Sunday as they head to Austin to play the No. 11 Longhorns. Things don’t get much easier from there, as OSU will see action from No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 8 West Virginia and No. 5 Kansas all within the next two weeks. OSU and the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears are the only two undefeated teams left in the Big 12, but five Big 12 schools rank in the top-15 of the AP poll, the most in any conference. “Our guys have faced that adversity every step of the way and showed a lot of resilience,” Boynton said. “I can’t say enough about how
OSU Athletics Cade Cunningham dribbles during Oklahoma State's win over Wichita State on December 12, 2020.
proud I am of them that they’ve answered the call.” While the level of talent the Cowboys see will surely rise once Big-12 play starts, OSU has its own fair share of it. Freshman Cade Cunningham has lived up to the expectations thus far, leading not only the team in points but the Big 12 with 18.8. Isaac Likekele has also done his fair share, averaging 10.8 points per game and
pulling down an average of eight rebounds a game. Both players will need to continue this stretch as they begin seeing bigger and more physical teams in the Big 12. “I love our team,” Boynton said. “I love the pieces individually, I like us even more collectively when we have the energy and emotion.” sports.ed@ocolly.com