How do the Covid-19 vaccines work?
Traditionally, most vaccines use weakened or inactive parts of live viruses to trigger an immune response that causes the body to produce virus-fighting antibodies trained to fend off the disease. Newer vaccines use blueprints of a virus’s genetic code, rather than the live pathogen, to provoke the same immune system response.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine used this approach to genetically modify a common chimpanzee cold virus with blueprints of the Covid-19 “spike protein,” which is found on the surface of coronavirus cells. Once injected, the vaccine will produce antibodies capable of killing off the coronavirus in the event of potential exposure.
Pfizer and Moderna developed their drugs using an experimental technology that has never been approved for use in human vaccines. “Messenger” RNA is utilized to deliver instructions for building a coronavirus spike protein, rather than using the live virus. Once injected into muscle tissue, the cells make the spike protein, which causes an immune response and produces antibodies.
