Messenger RNA Vaccines are More Effective

The final Phase 3 results were released last November showing that the Messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were more than 90% effective. Dr Antony Faunci has no words to express his emotions so used an emoji to reply.

This extraordinary power has held up in real-world studies in the US, Israel and elsewhere. The Messenger RNA technology developed for its speed and flexibility as opposed to expectations it would provide strong protection against infectious disease.

The Messenger RNA platform can be new to the global public, but it’s a technology that researchers had been betting on for decades. This approach that led to remarkably safe and effective vaccines against a new virus is also showing promise against old enemies such as HIV, and infections that threaten babies and young children, such as respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus. This technology is tested as a treatment for cancers, including melanoma and the brain. This might offer a new way to treat autoimmune diseases. It can be an alternative to gene therapy for intractable conditions such as sickle cell disease.

Researchers like to use a cookbook analogy. The body’s DNA is the cookbook. Messenger RNA is a copy of the recipe one that disappears quickly. In the case of genetic disease, it can be used to instruct cells to make a healthy copy of a protein. In the case of Messenger RNA vaccines, it’s used to tell cells to make what looks like a piece of the virus, so the body produces antibodies and special immune system cells in response.