The new omicron variant of coronavirus has a number of mutations that may require manufacturers to update vaccines. The unique attributes of mRNA vaccines make updating them fast and easy.
The U.S. government funded a significant portion of the R&D behind the Moderna vaccine.
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Moderna claims its scientists alone invented the mRNA sequence used to produce its COVID-19 vaccine. The US government, which helped fund the drug, disagrees.
Employees at the Afrigen biotechnology company and Vaccine Hub facility at work in the manufacturing laboratory.
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Afrigen will be a technology transfer and training hub: it shares technology and develops skills specifically around how to produce a safe, effective and affordable mRNA vaccine.
An FDA panel has voted against recommending approval of a booster COVID-19 shot for the general population – disappointing some public health officials.
mRNA technologies for vaccine production is gaining more prominence
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Thanks to the collaborative efforts of governments, funding agencies, academia, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, large-scale manufacturing of mRNA drug products is becoming a reality.
COVID-19 vaccines have been proved safe and effective. But it’s understandable to have questions.
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As many teens and adults in the US restart their social lives, parents of children under the age of 12 wonder when their kids will also be able to experience the freedom that comes with vaccination.
Canadian public health organizations have run into a serious communication problem about the AstraZeneca vaccine. Crisis management and communication theories explain what’s gone wrong.
Archa Fox, The University of Western Australia and Damian Purcell, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
We have two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines so far. But what else can this technology do?
The AstraZeneca vaccine was 70 per cent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 infection in a large multinational study, and recently reported 76 per cent overall efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 in another large study done primarily in the United States.
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In the spotlight for its role in COVID-19 vaccines – and a Nobel Prize – mRNA is not a new invention. It’s a crucial messenger molecule at work every day in every cell in your body.
RNA carries copies of genetic information from DNA.
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So far, most vaccines in the US are mRNA vaccines. These represent a new technology and are likely to take over the vaccine world. But how do they work? What are their weaknesses? Five experts explain.
Gene-based vaccines had never been approved for humans before the coronavirus pandemic.
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The coronavirus pandemic has driven a lot of scientific progress in the past year. But just as some of the social changes are likely here to stay, so are some medical innovations.
For many, distinguishing between fact and fiction is difficult.
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Researchers are already working to improve the current crop of mRNA vaccines. Hopefully this will help them become more practical and affordable for the entire world, not just first-world countries.
Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute & Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco