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January 11, 2021
Clinical Contributors to this Story
Juan C. Ravell, M.D. contributes to topics such as Allergy and Immunology.
Three COVID-19 vaccines have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since mid-December 2020. Prior to authorization by the FDA, these vaccines underwent the same rigorous safety and effectiveness standards as all other vaccines. Quickly, vaccine distribution began, starting with health care professionals on the frontlines of patient care.
Once available to the broader public, it’s critical that a high percentage of the population receive the vaccine in order to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19. Herd immunity occurs when most of a population is immune to an infectious disease (either from previous infection and/or vaccination) and provides indirect protection to those who are not immune to the disease.
There have been many rumors flying around on the internet about what’s in the vaccine. Some rumors even suggested that the vaccines contain gluten, wheat, eggs and even bee venom! All of that is simply, untrue.
If you’re among the many wondering “what’s actually in it?” and, “is it safe to receive the injection?”, keep reading.
COVID Vaccine Ingredients
There are two COVID-19 messenger-ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines currently authorized for emergent use in the United States: the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. A third vaccine developed by Johnson &Johnson (J&J) Janssen uses a viral vector platform. Conventional vaccines, rely on weakened and inactivated pathogens or a fragment of the pathogen to trigger an immune response. In contrast, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines use a new approach by which mRNA is delivered into our cells to provide the genetic instructions for our own cells to “temporarily” make a “specific” viral protein (the coronavirus spike protein) that triggers an immune response. The J&J COVID-19 vaccine is a type of “replication-incompetent vector vaccine.” This vaccine also contains the genetic instructions to express a stabilized coronavirus spike protein, but instead of mRNA, these instructions are delivered via DNA stored inside a modified vector virus (Adenovirus 26). This adenovirus has been engineered to enter the human cells and deliver the desired genetic information without replicating itself or causing illness. Once inside the cells, the DNA encoding for the coronavirus spike protein can be read by the cell and transcribed into mRNA. At this point, the J&J vaccine acts similarly to the mRNA vaccines.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is made of the following ingredients:
mRNA – Also known as messenger ribonucleic acid, mRNA is the only active ingredient in the vaccine. The mRNA molecules contain the genetic material that provide instructions for our body on how to make a viral protein that triggers an immune response within our bodies. The immune response is what causes our bodies to make the antibodies needed to protect us from getting infected if exposed to the coronavirus.
There are rumors that mRNA vaccines will alter our DNA because the RNA molecule can convert information stored in DNA into proteins. That’s simply, not true. It’s critical to note that the mRNA vaccines never enter the nucleus of the cell, where our DNA is stored. After injection, the mRNA from the vaccine is released into the cytoplasm of the cells. Once the viral protein is made and on the surface of the cell, mRNA is broken down and the body permanently gets rid of it, therefore making it impossible to change our DNA.
