How many doses of the Pfizer vaccine do you need?
After months of lockdown, next week the UK will begin its vaccination programme against COVID-19 with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Further vaccinations, such as the Moderna vaccine and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, could be approved over the coming months. For now, the Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine is the first and only vaccine to be approved in the UK, and the UK is also the first nation to approve the manufacturer’s vaccine for use.
What is an mRNA vaccine?
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is a form of messenger RNA, or mRNA vaccine.
Unlike other vaccine types, mRNA do not use live forms of the virus – meaning mRNA vaccines can also be manufactured quicker than other types of vaccine.
When an mRNA vaccine is injected, it prompts the cells to produce a coronavirus spike protein.
These proteins prompt the body’s immune system to create antibodies, and this process enables a person’s immune system to fight a potential case of COVID-19 infection in the future.
