The test results for AstraZeneca's vaccine have been available to the regulatory authorities in various countries for a few days now. Unlike the vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna, the product is not an mRNA vaccine, but a so-called vector vaccine. What vaccines are available? And how do the most important vaccines differ?
Various vaccine variants against corona are being used in clinical development. The four most common vaccine groups are
What all vaccines have in common is that they familiarize the human immune system with key parts of the pathogen so that it can develop a targeted defence. When the pathogen is actually encountered, it is usually fought so effectively that the disease does not even break out in vaccinated people or at least takes a milder course.
Live vaccines are probably the best known when it comes to vaccinations: they contain the respective pathogen in an attenuated form. These are able to multiply in the body, but no longer cause illness. The vaccines against
are, for example, live vaccines. Most studies on live vaccines against Covid-19 are currently still in the preclinical phase.
Inactivated vaccines do not contain pathogens that can multiply, but killed viruses or fragments of these. These vaccines usually contain boosters so that the immune system reacts to the vaccination. The best-known inactivated vaccines are those against
The US company Novavax is testing an inactivated vaccine against Sars-CoV-2 in a Phase III trial, and other candidates are in development.
Vector vaccines are based on viruses that are harmless to humans. Pieces of genetic material from the pathogen to be vaccinated against are incorporated into these vaccine viruses. The
belongs to this group. The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) is developing a vector vaccine against Sars-CoV-2 together with the company IDT Biologika.
developed and used. AstraZeneca is about to obtain approval for its vector vaccine.
RNA vaccines do not contain pathogens, but only so-called messenger RNA (mRNA). In body cells, this molecule ensures that the cells themselves produce a virus protein so that the human immune system can produce antibodies against it. The vaccines from Biontech, Pfizer and Moderna are such vaccines.
The principle of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid / messenger RNA) originates from cancer research. Work on personalized vaccines has been going on there for years. Unlike conventional vaccines, mRNA vaccines do not require pathogens or their components. With the vaccine, a few body cells are given parts of the genetic information of the virus as RNA. This means that the blueprint for individual virus proteins is also supplied. These are also known as antigens.
Always be informed about developments in private care.
Sarah Frey
Care Manager Canton Aargau/Solothurn