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mRNA Vaccines - FACT! Article 1

What You Need to Know About Messenger RNA Vaccines (mRNA).

The vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response inside our bodies.

Like all vaccines, mRNA vaccines benefit people who get vaccinated by giving them protection against diseases like COVID-19 without risking the potentially serious consequences of getting sick.

mRNA vaccines are newly available to the public. However, researchers have been studying and working with mRNA vaccines for decades.

The same COVID-19 mRNA vaccine product should be used for both doses of a two-dose primary series and for an additional primary dose, if needed. However, any of the COVID-19 vaccines can be used for a booster dose. The booster dose product does not need to match the product used for the primary series.

Pfizer - BioNTech AND MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINES: ARE THEY mRNA?

Yes they are!

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are messenger RNA vaccines also called mRNA vaccines. 

mRNA vaccines are some of the first COVID-19 vaccines authorized and approved for use in the United States.

HOW mRNA VACCINES WORK:

To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies.

1. First, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscle. The mRNA will enter the muscle cells and instruct the cells’ machinery to produce a harmless piece of what is called the spike protein. The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. After the protein piece is made, our cells break down the mRNA and remove it.

2. Next, our cells display the spike protein piece on their surface. Our immune system recognizes that the protein doesn’t belong there. 

This triggers our immune system to produce antibodies and activate other immune cells to fight off what it thinks is an infection. This is what your body might do to fight off the infection if you got sick with COVID-19.

3. At the end of the process, our bodies have learned how to protect against future infection from the virus that causes COVID-19. 

The benefit of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, like all vaccines, is that those vaccinated gain this protection without ever having to risk the potentially serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19. Any temporary discomfort experienced after getting the vaccine is a natural part of the process and an indication that the vaccine is working.

Credit: This article was published by the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

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