COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines
Context:
WHO will facilitate the establishment of one (or more, as appropriate) technology transfer hub(s) that will use a hub and spoke model (REF) to transfer a comprehensive technology package and provide appropriate training to interested manufacturers in LMICs. This initiative will initially prioritize the mRNA-vaccine technology but could expand to other technologies in the future.
What You Need to Know
- mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases.
- MRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
- The benefit of mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is those vaccinated gain protection without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19.
- Messenger RNA vaccines—also called mRNA vaccines—are some of the first COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States.
New Approach to Vaccines
mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, they teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.
A Closer Look at How COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Work
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.
- First, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. Once the instructions (mRNA) are inside the immune cells, the cells use them to make the protein piece. After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions and gets rid of them.
- Next, the cell displays the protein piece on its surface. Our immune systems recognize that the protein doesn’t belong there and begin building an immune response and making antibodies, like what happens in natural infection against COVID-19.
- 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.
mRNA Vaccines Are New, But Not Unknown
Researchers have been studying and working with mRNA vaccines for decades. Interest has grown in these vaccines because they can be developed in a laboratory using readily available materials. This means the process can be standardized and scaled up, making vaccine development faster than traditional methods of making vaccines.
mRNA vaccines have been studied before for flu, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV). As soon as the necessary information about the virus that causes COVID-19 was available, scientists began designing the mRNA instructions for cells to build the unique spike protein into an mRNA vaccine.
Future mRNA vaccine technology may allow for one vaccine to provide protection for multiple diseases, thus decreasing the number of shots needed for protection against common vaccine-preventable diseases.
Beyond vaccines, cancer research has used mRNA to trigger the immune system to target specific cancer cells.
The Difference Between DNA and RNA Vaccines
DNA and RNA vaccines work the same way as each other, but have some differences. With a DNA vaccine, the virus’ genetic information “is transmitted to another molecule that is called the messenger RNA (mRNA),” Gennaro says. This means with an RNA or mRNA vaccine, you’re one step ahead of a DNA vaccine.
The mRNA goes into the cell, and the cell translates it into proteins…which are the ones that the organism sees and induces the immune response.
Another difference between a DNA and RNA vaccine is that a DNA vaccine delivers the message via a small electrical pulse, which “literally pushes the message into the cell”.
“The advantage is that this vaccine is very stable at higher temperatures. The disadvantage is that it requires a special device that provides the electrical pulse,”.
Based on research so far, it looks like both DNA and RNA vaccines induce similar immune responses. “But since both are under clinical trials, we still have a lot to learn from them.
Pros and Cons of DNA and RNA Vaccines
DNA and RNA vaccines are being touted for their cost effectiveness and ability to be developed more quickly than traditional, protein vaccines. Traditional vaccines often rely on actual viruses or viral proteins grown in eggs or cells, and can take years and years to develop. DNA and RNA vaccines, on the other hand, can theoretically be made more readily available because they rely on genetic code–not a live virus or bacteria. This also makes them cheaper to produce.
“The advantage over protein vaccines—in principle, not necessarily in practice—is that if you know what protein you want to end up expressing in the body, it’s very easy to synthesize a messenger RNA and then inject it into people. “Proteins are a little more finicky as molecules, whereas the nucleic acid [DNA and RNA] is a much simpler structure.”
But with any health advancement comes potential risk that with a DNA vaccine, there is always a risk it can cause a permanent change to the cell’s natural DNA sequence.
“Usually, there are ways in which DNA vaccines are made that try to minimize this risk, but it’s a potential risk, Instead, if you inject mRNA, it cannot get integrated into the genetic material of a cell. It is also ready to be translated into protein.”
Facts about COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines
They cannot give someone COVID-19.
- mRNA vaccines do not use the live virus that causes COVID-19.
They do not affect or interact with our DNA in any way.
- mRNA never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA (genetic material) is kept.
- The cell breaks down and gets rid of the mRNA soon after it is finished using the instructions.
mRNA vaccine for corona virus : Moderna, Pfizer etc.
