COVID-19 Vaccines That Use mRNA Technology Have Been Found Most Effective Against Variant Strains

By
Zhi Hao
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It appears that mRNA vaccines, notably those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, may genuinely be more underrated than we give them credit for.

In a separate article, we wrote that these vaccines possess a high success rate, as they seem capable of reducing the risk of infection by as much as 80 percent…

Just two weeks or more after the first shot.

For the record, that figure jumps to 90% after the second shot.

Yet, as promising as the aforementioned results are, it looks like we haven’t even gotten to the mRNA’s strongest asset:

Its prowess against not just one strain, but different strains of varying degrees.

COVID-19 Vaccines That Use mRNA Technology Have Been Found Most Effective Against Variant Strains

According to a monthly webinar, titled “Season Two of Covid-19: Updates from Singapore”, it has been unveiled that mRNA vaccines appear to be the best at countering variant strains.

In fact, it has been shown to create formidable amounts of neutralising antibodies against the original COVID-19 strain, Britain’s B117 strain and the Brazilian P1 variant.

However, it did falter when pitted against South Africa’s B1351 variant.

Nevertheless, as far as comparisons amongst similar vaccines go, these vaccines seem especially adept at tackling foreign strains.

And their success may just be attributable to the tremendous amounts of antibody and T-cell response that are induced in the body.

“Antibodies have the capacity to block infection entirely… and when it comes to limiting spread and severity of infection in an individual that has already been infected, both T-cells and antibodies play a role,” Assoc Prof Allen said.

How Do These mRNA Vaccines Work?

According to The Straits Times, mRNA vaccines operate via the insertion of the virus’ genetic material into the body.

Interestingly, it’s not the whole virus that gets injected, but mere snippets.

This process works to incite an immune response from the body, during which neutralising antibodies spawn to target vital sites of the virus – preventing a potentially hostile takeover.

For more details, you can watch the actual video down below:

How It Works

But if you fancy a closer look at how the mRNA vaccines work, here’s a more detailed explanation.

According to The New York Times, the coronavirus is studded with proteins that it uses to enter human cells.

These are called spike proteins. 

Lest you’re unaware, vaccines have to “train” our bodies to recognise threats like viruses.

That’s why mRNA vaccines transfer molecules of synthetic RNA into our human cells, instructing them to produce the spike protein unique to the coronavirus.

Once our muscle cells produce the protein, it triggers the immune system to attack it.

Thus, if we contract the coronavirus in the future, the body will “remember” how to fight it.

Cons

Yet, despite the strengths of mRNA vaccines, they are essentially a ‘glass cannon’.

Strong, but fragile at the same time.

They will quickly fall apart at room temperature, which is why both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines have to be kept at extremely low temperatures.

Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored at -20°C and Pfizer’s vaccine at -70°C, which may present logistical issues for some countries.

However, their simplistic nature means that they can be produced as soon as the genetic sequence of the pathogen is determined.

That, coupled with the effectiveness of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines, serves to lift them above all other competitors, leaving others to scramble frantically as they look to join in on the worldwide demand for vaccines.

Upgrades

And to add on, these vaccines are still capable of being upgraded.

As mentioned earlier on, the mRNA vaccines showed signs of faltering against the B1351 variant, but that’s a question that is already being worked on.

According to Stanford Daily, Moderna has already launched its Phase 1 testing for a booster effort against South Africa’s variant.

Here’s hoping that the vaccine versions of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will continue to lead the fight against the COVID-19, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Featured Image: angellodeco / Shutterstock.com

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Zhi Hao
Email: [email protected]