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How do the RNA covid vaccines work?

Alvin2

The good news is patients don't die the bad news..
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2,996
So far I have not gotten an ETA on when i will be eligible but i have not decided which one to take assuming i get a choice.

The Johnson & Johnson uses an inert adenovirus much like the flu shot (which i had no problem with) but is less efficacious.

The Moderna and Pfizer use RNA but i don't understand how they work, does the RNA circulate in the blood until the body creates antibodies to the spike protein? Where does this spike protein come from if i understand correctly that RNA is simply a set of instructions?
 

Pyrrhus

Senior Member
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4,172
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U.S., Earth
The Moderna and Pfizer use RNA but i don't understand how they work, does the RNA circulate in the blood until the body creates antibodies to the spike protein? Where does this spike protein come from if i understand correctly that RNA is simply a set of instructions?

The messenger RNA in the vaccines circulate until they are taken up by cells, where they are translated by the cells into the spike protein, which is then presented to the immune system, so that the immune system can generate a response to the spike protein.

1616039547502.png



The Johnson & Johnson uses an inert adenovirus much like the flu shot (which i had no problem with) but is less efficacious.

If only one shot is used, then yes, it appears to be less effective than the mRNA vaccines with two shots.
But it's even less effective in people who have previously been exposed to adenoviruses.

1616039498949.png


Hope this helps.

EDIT: Corrected information about efficacy of adenoviral vectors.
 
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gbells

Improved ME from 2 to 6
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Alexandria, VA USA
Basically cells work by copying RNA from the DNA in the nucleus. The RNA then goes to ribosomes to make proteins. Covid vaccines contain RNA to encode proteins from the spikes of four of the seven strains (3 are ineffective and don't have the same spikes) which causes your cells to make the spikes which are then recognized as foreign and cause the immune system to attack them and develop antibodies which provide longer term defense (3-8 months only). So a covid vaccination basically simulates a covid infection without being able to create a sustained infection-sparing the patient from having to go through the full infection to develop some resistance. However, the vaccinations do not provide full immunity to the virus, they reduce severity. Also, the effect hasn't been shown to last longer than 8 months.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
The Johnson & Johnson uses an inert adenovirus much like the flu shot (which i had no problem with) but is less efficacious.

Which adenovirus flu shot did you get ?
I got the classical inactivated adjuvanted influenza vaccine and I am still bad since.

The messenger RNA in the vaccines circulate until they are taken up by cells, where they are translated by the cells into the spike protein, which is then presented to the immune system, so that the immune system can generate a response to the spike protein.

For people who haven't been exposed to adenoviruses before, it's actually quite effective, in just a single shot. But it's less effective in people who have previously been exposed to adenoviruses...

Hope this helps.

Do you know if the adenovirus vectored Johnson vaccine is replicating or not?
 

pamojja

Senior Member
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2,384
Location
Austria
The Moderna and Pfizer use RNA but i don't understand how they work, does the RNA circulate in the blood until the body creates antibodies to the spike protein? Where does this spike protein come from if i understand correctly that RNA is simply a set of instructions?

Some very fine-grained details in this investigation of a cell-biologist of the mechanisms and uncertainties of the Pfizer vaccine: http://enformtk.u-aizu.ac.jp/howard/gcep_dr_vanessa_schmidt_krueger/
 

Pyrrhus

Senior Member
Messages
4,172
Location
U.S., Earth
Which adenovirus flu shot did you get ?

Flu shots don't use adenovirus vectors. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is only the first second commercially available vaccine made from an adenovirus vector. (Ebola vaccine was the first in 2019)

Do you know if the adenovirus vectored Johnson vaccine is replicating or not?

No it is genetically prevented from replicating. But the result is that you may end up with immunity towards both adenovirus and the coronavirus.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: I corrected incorrect information about the replicative capacity of the adenoviral vector vaccines.
 
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