Katalin Karikó, the Hungarian biochemist who was fundamental in the creation of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, is currently in Hungary until May 27. While her schedule and work responsibilities have kept her very busy, since she has arrived she has spoken at the Hungarian Academy of Science (MTA), given interviews to Hungarian media, and met with the rector of Semmelweis University, Béla Merkely.
At her speech for the 194th conference of the Hungarian Academy of Science (MTA), Katalin Karikó spoke about her career path, which started at the University of Szeged, and gave details on the scientific know-how of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology. It was Karikó’s decades of hard work which led to this technology becoming the foundation for Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine.
Hungary to Initiate Large-Scale Efficacy Study of Vaccines
Word has spread about a 12-month study being planned to test the efficacy of all vaccines currently authorized in Hungary. Despite the magnitude of the nation-wide experiment, the government has been relatively silent regarding its details.
The Pécs University Clinical Center shared a publication inviting people to take part in a voluntary 12-month antibody-study of the Sinopharm vaccine.
A 12-Month Volunteer Study of Antibodies
The document shared by the university states that
It is important to have an ever-broadening understanding of vaccines, both regarding their side effects and their impact on the immune system. Therefore, with agreement to the following tests, we are asking for help in creating a more detailed understanding of such immunological effects that vaccines have on us.”