Understanding the Pfizer and Moderna COVID19 vaccines
Posted By RichC on December 27, 2020
There was an interesting article in Prevention Magazine that explains what the COVID19 or generically the Coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna do … AND what their ingredients are. It also details
the differences between the two from the standpoint of how cold storage temperatures need to be. Check out the article for the ingredients or the snippet as to what they do below:
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. While these vaccines are the first of their kind, mRNA has been studied for more than 10 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was developed years ago to try to combat other illnesses, but never made it past early-stage clinical trials until it was refined and re-targeted for COVID-19.
The coronavirus mRNA vaccines do not contain live or inactivated virus, but rather work by encoding a piece of the spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, per the CDC. (This is the part of the virus that gives it that unique crown-like shape.)
The vaccines use the piece of the encoded SARs-CoV-2 protein to trigger an immune response in your body. How? The mRNA gives your cells instructions to produce a protein that’s similar to the coronavirus’ spike protein, tricking your system into thinking it has an infection to fight. (Remember: It’s just a part of the protein, and does your body no harm.)
Your system mounts a response against the new proteins, because they’re seen as foreign invaders, developing antibodies that are specific to SARs-CoV-2 in the process. These infection fighters stick around to help your body fight a future case of COVID-19, but it’s not yet understood for how long. Your body will do its thing and eventually get rid of the proteins and mRNA on its own.
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