Re:Pfizer Covid vaccine approved for use next week in UK
by wfn on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @04:21AM
(#25274763)
> So its effect on the immune system lasts even after it's gone.
The general principle is the same as for most vaccines: make the body generate its own antibodies (and/or T cells) for the virus in question. So in that sense of course its effect is long term, just like when you get sick with some virus and your body develops antibodies for it - the virus itself is gone, but the effect on the immune system is long-lasting.
From an FT article:
> Conventional vaccines administer an inactivated virus, or proteins from that virus, into the body to trigger an immune response, which can prevent subsequent infection.
> In contrast, mRNA technology — originally developed as a cancer therapy — injects genetic instructions into the body that tell cells to make viral proteins that prime the immune system. Although mRNA vaccines had been under development for several years for viruses including influenza, cytomegalovirus, HIV, rabies and Zika, the arrival of Covid-19 turbocharged the process.
The general principle is the same as for most vaccines: make the body generate its own antibodies (and/or T cells) for the virus in question. So in that sense of course its effect is long term, just like when you get sick with some virus and your body develops antibodies for it - the virus itself is gone, but the effect on the immune system is long-lasting.
From an FT article:
> Conventional vaccines administer an inactivated virus, or proteins from that virus, into the body to trigger an immune response, which can prevent subsequent infection.
> In contrast, mRNA technology — originally developed as a cancer therapy — injects genetic instructions into the body that tell cells to make viral proteins that prime the immune system. Although mRNA vaccines had been under development for several years for viruses including influenza, cytomegalovirus, HIV, rabies and Zika, the arrival of Covid-19 turbocharged the process.
- https://www.ft.com/content/74e41528-80c3-4b0f-b343-be43d90f0...