RCBH928 wrote:The head scratcher is they say mRNA vaccine types were not permitted ever before, now they are the most effective, whats going on here?!
To add to marunun's answer, mRNA is not a new technology though its use in vaccines is relatively new. Much work has been done on creating mRNA cancer treatments so the tech has existed for decades and its potential for use as a viral/bacterial vaccine was well understood but not put into practice at a large scale until now.
There are several advantages to mRNA vaccines which will probably make them the dominant form of vaccines in the near future.
1. Unlike traditional vaccines that use a weakened or dead virus, there is no risk of actually contracting the infection from the vaccine itself. For example, oral polio vaccines used in parts of the world (not the US), have about a 1 in a million chance to give you polio and cause paralysis.
2. mRNA vaccines have a much faster turnaround time. They do not take anywhere near as much time to develop. Unfortunately, this adds to the public perception that they were rushed for COVID-19. While it is fair to say that development was expedited through funding due to the severity of the pandemic, the only thing that was "rushed" (at least in the US) was FDA approval through their pre-established emergency use protocols. Those protocols exist for reasons such as a pandemic.
3. mRNA vaccines have the potential to prevent multiple diseases through a single vaccine. I know Moderna is working on a combo flu/COVID-19 booster.
And if that isn't enough to convince you:
Seriously though, you can get a lot more facts about mRNA vaccines here:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html
Lucky me. Sickness lasted 10 days or so. Throat then took 2 weeks to heal fully. Actually reminded me of a, prolonged bad case of strep throat... that antibiotics couldn't fix.
