CORONAVIRUS VACCINE: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

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What Is In The Vaccine?

The active ingredient is messenger RNA that carries instructions for making the virus’s spike protein, which it uses to gain entry to cells. The mRNA is synthetic, not extracted from actual viruses. It is delivered in a tiny sphere of inert fatty material called a lipid nanoparticle.

The RNA-bearing nanoparticles are suspended in saline solution and injected into muscle tissue in the upper arm. The mRNA is then taken up by specialist immune cells, which follow its instructions to make the spike protein, just as they would do if they had become infected with the actual virus.

The spike protein is recognised as foreign by the immune system, which mounts an attack against it. Antibodies, B cells and T cells are activated, according to Uğur Şahin, the chief executive of the small German company BioNTech that co-developed the vaccine with US drug giant Pfizer. An immune memory is also laid down, he says, which means the immune system has learned how to defeat the pathogen and is primed to mount a swift response if it encounters the coronavirus again. (newscientist.com)

How To Know The Vaccine Is Safe

Protective trials, tests and researches will be carried out on cells and animals in the laboratory, before shifting to the humans.

The idea is to start small and only graduate to the next stage of testing if there are safety issues.

Does It Have Side Effects?

There has been no proof that any of the ingredients causes harm when used in small doses.

Vaccines do not give you diseases. They instead instruct your body's immune system to point out and fight the infection they have been formulated to guard against.

In some cases, people do experience mild symptoms after they receive the vaccination, such as aches in muscle or high temperature. This is not the disease but the body's reaction to it. It is rare to have an allergic reaction to a vaccine.

Grandmother Margaret Keenan, 90, is the first patient in world to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

UK first country to begin rollout of Pfizer vaccine  - and more hospitals will be added to vaccination list later today.

A brief background on the makers of the vaccine.

PFIZER- Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. It is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and ranked 57 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

Headquartered in New York City, Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. Its products include the blockbuster drug Lipitor (atorvastatin), used to lower LDL blood cholesterol; Lyrica (pregabalin) for neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia; Diflucan (fluconazole), an oral antifungal medication; Zithromax (azithromycin), an antibiotic; Viagra (sildenafil) for erectile dysfunction; Celebrex (also Celebra, celecoxib), an anti-inflammatory drug; and Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. (wikipedia)

BioNTech- German biotechnology company.BioNTech (pronounced bye-on-tech) was founded in the city of Mainz in 2008 by husband and wife duo Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci.

Both Sahin and Tureci are the children of Turkish immigrants. Sahin’s father worked at a Ford factory in Cologne while Tureci’s was a doctor. Sahin heads up BioNTech as its CEO while Tureci is the firm’s chief medical officer.