News in English     | 20.12.2020. 23:00 |

Doctors Nura and Emir Festić: Those who do not get vaccinated are the brave ones

FENA Bisera Džidić

JACKSONVILLE/SARAJEVO, December 20 (FENA) - The couple, both of them medical doctors, Nura and Emir Festić, who are living and working in the United States, were among the first to receive the COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and probably the first married couple of Bosnian descent to receive the newly approved vaccine against coronavirus. In an exclusive interview with FENA, they talk about the most debated global issue of today - being for or against the vaccine.

Both, Nura and Emir, graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, and are members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina-American Academy of Sciences and Arts (BHAAAS) and both completed their medical specializations and subspecializations at the Mayo Clinic, where Dr. Emir Festić works as a full-time professor at the Department of Pulmonology, and his wife dr. Nura Festić works at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, as an assistant professor at the Institute of Neurology and Neuro Research.

At the beginning of the conversation, they present their views on the COVID vaccine, answering the question of whether they had dilemmas about their own vaccination.

"The healthcare facility I work at, University of Florida, Jacksonville, is among the first five healthcare institutions in Florida to have received a shipment of Pfizer BioNTech vaccines this week. I got the vaccine with great enthusiasm on the same day when it became available to health workers in our institution, as well as a large number of my colleagues who had access and the opportunity to do so," says Dr. Nura Festić.

Her husband, Dr. Emir Festić, says that he could hardly wait to receive the vaccine, explaining his position with the fact that it is was in his best interest, but that was also his responsibility "to show the community by personal example what we all have to do."

When asked what the atmosphere was like among colleagues at the clinic and the university where they work, whether everyone would be vaccinated, they say that vaccination is taking place on a voluntary basis.

"The vaccine is currently available to all health workers in our institution, but the vaccination itself is strictly on a voluntary basis. My observation during the past few days is that many highly educated as well as other well-informed health workers approach the vaccination, while individual skepticism mostly comes from those who use social networks for their source of information," explains Dr. Nura Festić.

She cites an example of the Dean and Director-General of the University of Florida in Jacksonville and his work colleague who got the vaccine at the same time as our interlocutor.

She is a neurology specialist with a narrow subspecialty in the field of Multiple sclerosis, and she is currently breastfeeding her firstborn baby. She says she was vaccinated on the first day after it became available without the slightest dose of skepticism, with a wide smile on her face.

Dr. Emir Festić says that there was a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy at the Mayo clinic on the day they received the vaccines. 

"We haven't had this feeling for a long time. People finally felt a certain relief," says Dr. Festić.

Globally speaking, Bosnia and Herzegovina included, public opinion has been divided on being for or against the vaccine?

"Those divided opinions sometimes represent the basis of healthy polemics, and sometimes they cause harm. When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, I think the negative comments are largely unjustified, even dangerous, both individually and globally. I don't think anyone questions the effectiveness of the vaccine.

The controversy is mainly focused on the topic of potential side-effects. The results of the rigorous testing indicate an excellent safety profile for over 20,000 people who have received it in the past six months, roughly speaking. Individual allergic reactions and other mild side-effects are no more common than with other vaccines we have been receiving for decades.

There is a difference between the currently approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the classic vaccines that use dead or weakened virus strain. It is true that this is a new technology that uses mRNA as an instructional code for the method of inducing immunity. However, as mysterious as this terminology may sound, and as such it might present a great challenge, the basic mechanism is essentially quite logical and simple.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) that is synthesized as a replica of a portion of the genetic material of the SARS-COV-2 virus is vaccinated into our body and soon enters our cells through the bloodstream. It is important to note that mRNA does not have the ability to penetrate the cell nucleus where our individual genetic code (DNA) is located and for that reason does not have the ability to modify our genetic structure, which is contrary to unverified comments available on many social networks.

The mRNA from the vaccine remains in the surrounding fluid of our cells and produces the so-called "spike protein" which is structurally identical to the surface protein of the virus that first comes into contact with the cell when the virus attacks the body. Synthetic mRNA is degraded in our cells after producing "spike protein".

This synthetic "spike protein" then leaves the cell and is stationed on the outer surface of the cell membrane where it serves as bait for individual immunity that protects us from future infection for a predicted period of one to two years," explains Dr. Nura Festić.

Dr. Emir Festić wanted to underline that the fear is understandable after everything that has happened in the last year, but that is exactly the reason why we should not see this fear as justified.

"Covid 19 killed millions of people and the vaccine will protect people from death, and it will probably not kill anyone," he stressed. 

Continuing the conversation, considering that the Festić couple work at prestigious clinics and at university, and that they exchange opinions with colleagues, the 'question of all questions' arose - what is the general position of the profession in terms of normalization of life?

"I think and hope that there will be no return to the old normal as we know it. I guess we got some messages from all this that we will continue to apply the methods of individual and general protection as well as the protection of our planet," says Dr. Emir Festić.

It was inevitable to ask them about what are December days like in Florida as we approach the holidays and life, in general, considering the Covid pandemic?

"More or less, whether it is holidays or not, our everyday life is guided by a new norm which implies a number of restrictions that are very familiar to us: masks, frequent hand washing, avoiding close contact with the environment, especially indoors. In this context, life in Florida during the winter months is somewhat easier than in other geographical locations because the climate allows us an unhindered stay in outdoor, open spaces.

However, almost every aspect of our present is marked by this unfortunate virus... and will continue to be so until 'herd immunity' is acquired. Personally, I sincerely hope that this will be achieved in a less painless way between the two options: infection or vaccine. My vote is definitely for the vaccine," underlined Dr. Nura Festić.

"For us who survived the siege of Sarajevo and all the horrors of war, in comparison, these challenges, in fact, seem quite small," says Dr. Emir Festić.

My husband and I want to show by example to the general population that the vaccine is currently the most potent weapon we have in the fight against this global disaster," concluded Dr. Nura Festić.

Dr. Emir Festić, affirming his position on the necessity of vaccination, repeated his wife's comment after she had received congratulations on her courage to get vaccinated.

"She said: "Those who do not get vaccinated are the brave ones."

(FENA) S. R.

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