As people in South Africa roll up their sleeves to get
vaccinated against Covid-19 in the coming months, many will receive a jab made
by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech. This vaccine is not only
highly effective but it is also at the cutting edge of vaccine science - being
one of the first of a new type of vaccines called messenger RNA, or mRNA for
short.
While scientists have been investigating and developing mRNA
technology for decades, (see this 2018 review in
Nature),
research in this area has recently been propelled forward by unprecedented
public financing in response to Covid-19.
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Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, such as the Covid-19 vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, have been hailed for their manufacturing advantages over conventional vaccines – so much so that African leaders such as President Cyril Ramaphosa have called for mRNA production capacity to be developed in Africa.
Catherine Tomlinson examines why mRNA vaccines are easier to make than some other types and asks what it will take to build such production capacity.
As people in South Africa roll up their sleeves to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the coming months, many will receive a jab made by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech. This vaccine is not only highly effective but also at the cutting edge of vaccine science – being one of the first of a new type of vaccine called messenger RNA, or mRNA for short.
Messenger RNA vaccines have been hailed for their manufacturing advantages over conventional vaccines – so much so that African leaders such as President Cyril Ramaphosa have called for mRNA production capacity to be developed in Africa. Catherine Tomlinson examines why they are easier to mak.
On 1 February 2021, a million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India arrived at OR Tambo International Airport. Everything seemed set for the country’s vaccine rollout to kick off two or so weeks later.
But just a few days later on 7 February, the devastating news came that a study found the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine offered little or no protection against mild-to-moderate Covid-19 caused by the variant of SARS-CoV-2 prevalent in South Africa. Some argued that we should use the vaccine regardless since it might protect against severe disease and death, but the decision was taken not to use it and the vaccines were later sold.