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HB NEWS NERVOUS ABOUT PFIZER OR MODERNA VACCINES? READ THIS COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Ontario has been high this spring and summer, with more than 60 per cent of residents now fully vaccinated. However, some peo- NI ain on the fence, mulling over questions that leave room for doubt about vaccine safety and efficacy. One of those ques- tions is how mRNA vaccines like the ones Pfizer and Moderna pro- duce could bed “sai Peis ‘Russell photo ly and still be safe and effective. lp clear up confusion- , Bill ‘Anderson, professor emeri- tus in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, an- swers this question and a few oth- ers, FIRST, HOW DO mRNA VACCINES WORK? Before getting into how the ‘NA vaccines are developed, it's helpful to know how they work. mRNA vaccines use ribo- nucle acid (RNA), a molecule ar tol DNA, tot teach our cells yw to wes paxtey SARS-CoV2) with, out using the live virus. An expert in ch digs into the netony of mRNA vaccines. Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a molecule that gives ie instruc. tion: ‘in like the ne "round on the vourface of the virus. When a person receives the vaccine, their cells read genetic instructions like a blue- print, produce the protein found on SARS-CoV-2 and toss out the blueprint. The cells then display the pro- ber on their surface, triggering "The mRNA vaccine itself is simply the mRNA blueprint ma- terial held within a nanoparticle package, which serves two im- portant functions," Anderson said. "It protects the mRNA, since it is quickly and easily destroyed in the body, and it helps the mRNA. get into your cells, where the blueprint gets read and the viral fragments are constructed." HOW WERE mRNA VACCINES FOR COVID-19 DEVELOPED SO QUICKLY? While mRNA COVID-19 vac- cines are new, Anderson said there is along history of develop- ment behind the platform used to produce them. Scientists con- firmed the existence of mRNA in cells in 1961 and successfully in- jected synthetic mRNA into an animal for the first time in 1990. Moderna Therapeutics, one of the COVID-19 vaccine developers, the pro- duction of antibodies the body can use to fight the actual virus if it enters in the future. Corsi WALK-IN & FAMILY CLINIC Where good health begins izing mRNA technologies for in- fectious diseases and cancer in 2010. Additionally, Google Scholar lists more than 250,000 research papers mentioning "mRNA vac- cines" prior to 2020. "So, in some ways, this vaccine has decades of development work behind it," An- derson said. Because mRNA technology | is platform into which vaccine da velopers can plug various blue. prints to target different diseas- es, some of the work to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 was done long before the first case of the vi- rus was over detected. "Once virus responsible for COvIDS 19 was identified and genetically sequenced, compa- nies just had to determine which part of the blueprint to use for the best effect," Anderson said. “Once that was done and tested, manufacturing could be quickly ramped up.” HOW IS mRNA VACCINE TECHNOLOGY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER TYPES OF VACCINES? Traditional vaccines, such as live-attenuated or inactivated vaccines, rely on growing and Hearing people wearing face mas just got easier If face masks and social distancing harvesting cells for further pro- cessing, as well as multiple puri- fication steps. ‘is process can take days or = weeke is much harder to scale up 3 for mass production and allows more room for issues in produc- tion, which can result in batches 3 being discarded, Anderson ex- ~aaleuL | &% plaine “The mRNA platform is great from a manufacturing point of said. "It can essentially 8 be done in afew hours with amix- 8 ture of known starting materials ~ and some enzymes, followed by some purification and packaging — all under pharmaceutical- grade manufacturing conditions, of course." Because of the quick and sim- ple method used to manufacture mRNA vaccines, producers such as Moderna and Pfizer have been. able to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses in a matter of Fi a Ey 2 = OTe a development perspec- more production capacity is de- veloped and brought online, the response can accelerate further worldwide. 221 Miller Dr., Georgetown GenesisHealthTeam.com NEW PATIENTS WELCOME EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS SAME DAY ee - MARKETPLACE DENTAL 280 Guelph St (in Georgetown Market Place) 905-877-CARE (Cre) « www.georgetowndental.com 994 g Halton Hil are making it harder for you to hear what people are saying, our hearing aids can help. AUDIOMETRIC CENTRE HEARING AIDS & AUDIOMETRY Georgetown’s trusted choice for hearing care 905.877.8828 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) haltonaudiometric.ca Armstrong Ave Guelph St. (Hwy. 7) eordyouy