Hi, I worked in vaccine sales for another company for over a decade. Perhaps I can point out a few things that will help this discussion.
A vaccine is supposed to help your body make antibodies. Antibodies to the specific antigen that you are exposed to. It’s quite simple. So with all the standard recommended pediatric and adult vaccines, when you get a shot - you’re getting the antigen, whether it is an inactivated virus or small part of the virus/bacteria. Your body then responds by developing antibodies, and the antibodies protect you from future infection.
Now with the mRNA vaccine, the distinction is that you’re not getting the antigen in the shot, you’re getting the
instructions for making the antigen. And then you make the antigen in your own body. All the standard vaccines you’ve gotten do not work like that. They give you the antigen already made -which is simpler and cleaner.
With the mRNA vaccines, the mRNA in the vaccine gives your cells instructions to make the antigen/spike protein. Once that happens, your body reacts by developing antibodies to the spike protein. The mRNA itself is supposed to self-destruct after the instructions is given (so it doesn’t linger and keep making spike protein in your body, which you wouldn’t want once you’ve developed antibodies). CDC has a nice image illustrating how the mRNA vaccine works -
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/vaccines/COVID-19-mRNA-infographic_G_508.pdf
The potential concern with mRNA vaccine has to do with what may possibly go wrong in the “making the spike protein part”. While mRNA technology has been used in cancer therapy, using it to make the antigen for a vaccine is completely novel. Once again, with standard vaccines, we don’t make the antigen in our body, we just get the antigen in the shot.
I’m not a doctor or PhD, so I asked my friends in medical to explain to me in plain English what the concerns are. What I was told, to put it simply, is that if something goes awry in the “making the spike protein” part, such as the mRNA goes somewhere in the body it’s not supposed to and then instruct cells to make spike protein where you wouldn’t want your own antibodies attacking, you essentially have an autoimmune phenomenon where your body is attacking its own cells. This concern also applies to the J&J viral vector vaccine. mRNA vaccines and viral vector vaccines differ only in how they get your body to make the spike protein. Either way, you’re making the spike protein.
I sold vaccines for a long time, and I believe in the science, so I got it knowing that this vaccine is very different. Since my family was nervous about getting vaccinated, and COVID-19 cases were high where I live, I was the first to get it. I got 2 does of the Pfizer vaccine, and I didn’t have any side effects other than a slight fever. My wife chose not to get vaccinated since we’re trying to have another baby, and she’s nervous about everything she puts in her body, and I respect that. For the rest of my family, it’s a mixed, some people got vaccinated and some didn’t. We agreed that we wouldn’t pressure each other. Everyone has to make their own decision based on their own health and their individual risks vs benefits. I think it’s really important to understand how these vaccines work to make an informed decision. I’m sharing my story in hopes that the vaccinated and unvaccinated can be more understanding of each other’s perspective.
, We grant you EUAs, you help us pressure the masses into compliance, which ultimately means more money in your pocket, especially with those booster doses…. It’s a win-win. That’s what they mean by “We’re all in this together”