A: A new type of vaccine technology has demonstrated safety and the ability to spark an immune reaction in a small sample of people, providing proof-of-concept for its eventual use as a broadly administered vaccine.
Which is indeed good news. But alas, it’s still very early days…..
A little bit of background:
The new technology (using the body’s own genetic “translator,” mRNA) targets a completely different biological mechanism than traditional infectious disease vaccines (introducing small or inactive components of the disease-causing virus/bacteria).
Relative benefits over traditional vaccines: FASTER to produce, CHEAPER, easier to produce at SCALE. Potentially safer.
Relative limitation: UNPROVEN. As a new technology (at least new to infectious disease contexts) we just don’t have much data yet with respect to its performance in people.
It’s also important to note that the preliminary study was not designed to examine the vaccine candidate’s effectiveness in response to actual exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Instead, it focuses on the first step in the associated process — demonstrating that the body mounts an immune response upon vaccine administration. The good news is that larger and longer-running studies are already in the field, and we’ll all be waiting with bated breath to learn more from their findings about potential side effects, proper dosing, delivery challenges, and widespread effectiveness. The bad news is that we currently know so very little about all of these important properties.
Helpful additional reading:
Nice write-ups of preliminary data on Moderna’s mRNA vaccine candidate:
Nice overviews of mRNA vaccines:
Advisory credit: Dr. Sarah Igoe, MD/MBA, generously provided molecular biology expertise and critical research appraisal.
