Since mRNA is a relatively new player in the vaccine field, I want to give a quick rundown of manufacturing as an explanation of the different types of vaccines and then focus on how mRNA is designed and made to help explain why scientists so sure in the safety and efficacy of these drugs. There are a lot fewer links in this post as I’m relying on my 6 years of experience in mRNA development and manufacturing.
Types of Vaccines
There are 4 major types of vaccines, live attenuated, inactivated, toxoid, and subunit. [link]
There is written record of Chinese practitioners grinding up smallpox scabs and having other people inhale them as the earliest known form of inoculation, the act of exposing people to small amounts of a disease to build up an immunity. [link] Even though there were methods to keep doses small, there was always the possibility of a person developing the disease from these small inoculations and people were desperate for an alternative.[…]