What is the Covid-19 Vaccine?

Edited by Catherine Verdeflor Since mid-March of 2020, we have been quarantined in our house and stuck in a global pandemic. Our worlds changed drastically within a day. At the start, many believed it wouldn’t last for long, but now, in 2021, we realize it's not just going to disappear - but there’s hope. On December 10, 2020, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech was approved to be given to the public. Soon after that announcement, many began to question and scrutinize the vaccine that has yet to be distributed. Rightfully so, confusion and unfamiliarity breeds skepticism and fear. So, what is the COVID-19 vaccine and what is in it? Simple answer is it contains RNA, lipids, salts, and sugar. The active ingredient, mRNA, is a genetic material of the COVID-19 virus that helps our cells code for the virus’s spike protein (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). These can be recognized by your immune system and invoke an immune response to the vaccine, so that, if you get the real virus, your body will already have the antibodies to fight it (which is the purpose of every vaccine). Next, there are different lipids involved in the encasing of the mRNA and structural purposes of the vaccine. Lipids, simply put, are fat molecules and relatively harmless. Furthermore, there are 4 salts involved in the vaccine for pH balance (one of which is basic table salt). It's important to keep the pH of a vaccine close to that of the human body so it doesn’t injure your cells or break down. The final ingredient is sucrose, which is a fancy way of saying regular sugar. The purpose of sucrose is to stop the nanoparticles from sticking together while the vaccine is frozen (Regalado, 2020). Like many other drugs inserted intravenously, it is mixed with a saline solution before insertion to match the isotonic concentration of your blood. With the vaccine being broken down ingredient by ingredient, many people will become more comfortable with it and feel it is more safe - especially since some of the ingredients are common macromolecules we are already ingesting on the daily, such as sugar and salt. The hope of the vaccine is just the light we needed in the darkness of this pandemic, but this does not mean it's over. Vaccines help you fight the virus once you get it, not protect you from not getting it. Just because you get the vaccine doesn’t mean you can stop wearing a mask and social distancing. The vaccine is just a step closer in a good direction that will be followed by many more. We will get to the light at the end of the tunnel if we all continue to follow CDC guidelines and be safe! References: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (18 December 2020). Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html Regalado, A. (9 December 2020). What are the ingredients of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine? MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/ Ruvic, D. (n.d.). [Untitled image of Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine] [Photograph]. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/9/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-pfizer-vaccine