How did we get a COVID vaccine so quickly?

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most impactful events in general over the last century and likely the definitive moment of the 2020s decade. As the most recent health crisis for America and the global landscape as well, it has shown some of the weaknesses of global health systems but also some of the strengths. For example, supply chains were heavily tested; this was seen most clearly with the lack of N95 masks and ventilators in the United States and throughout the world. However, one of the crowning achievements of the healthcare system resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic was the speed at which a vaccine was made. Let’s dive into what occurred for pharmaceutical companies to make a COVID-19 vaccine so quickly.

Viruses change DNA

Viruses work by injecting their own genetic material into our cells, using our cells’ mechanisms for life and DNA replication to create daughter viruses. These daughter viruses then are released to go to other cells and continue to use the host’s replication tools for their own benefit. Once there are enough daughter viruses, the cell is killed and viruses are released. With these mechanisms, the virus can eventually hurt the human body and give us a disease: one like COVID-19.

About the COVID-19 vaccine

The COVID-19 vaccine is different from traditional and older vaccines in a few primary ways. For many traditional vaccines, it was necessary that you got sick with a milder form of the disease to then build resistance, or immunity, to the actually more harmful, potentially deadly disease. The COVID-19 vaccine does not work this way. The COVID vaccine utilized a different method to train the immune system to recognize the COVID-19 virus and eliminate it quickly: through messenger RNA. Messenger RNA is also known as mRNA, and it is commonly used in the body to convert replicated DNA to proteins for the cell and overall body to use.

Scientists developed the COVID-19 vaccine to contain the same mRNA used to make the same proteins seen on the surface of the virus. These proteins were harmless for the body, but they forced the immune system to recognize when the COVID-19 virus enters the body. By using mRNA instead of DNA in the vaccine, there was no need to change the human genome, preventing any major, long-term side effects as well. While viruses are generally less complex than bacteria and therefore easier to create and develop vaccines for, it took only around one year of COVID-19 being a pandemic that a vaccine was created. How come?

How was it made so fast?

To the average viewer or person tuning into the news, it may seem that the COVID-19 vaccine being created so quickly was just a huge, random step for science. In reality, its creation being so quick was a result of scientists already having information on SARS viruses (the virus type that causes COVID-19) from decades of research. The science and our understanding of DNA, mRNA, and how viruses work has advanced significantly in the past few decades, so this vaccine was actually a culmination of work instead of a few strokes of brilliance by a few research teams. These previous understandings let the COVID-19 vaccine go to clinical trials and release to the public safely in record time. While it is marvelous looking back, this innovation may perhaps give us more hope for the future of healthcare and its capability in fighting globally catastrophic disease.

Sources

[embed]The COVID vaccine came out super quickly. Here's why it's safe. COVID vaccines arrived with historic speed, but the science behind it isn't new. Years of research put us in a position…www.universityofcalifornia.edu