Irish Professor Makes Unfounded Claims About Long-Term Effects of mRNA Vaccines
SciCheck Digest
The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines authorized for use were found to be safe and effective in clinical trials and real-world conditions. A professor in Ireland baselessly claims in a video circulating on social media that they are not, and that those who get the vaccines will die as a result within several years.
The unprecedented speed of the COVID-19 vaccines was due to multiple factors.
Candidates for an mRNA vaccine — the technology used for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines — can be quickly designed once scientists know the genetic sequence of the virus and which protein to target. Researchers already knew from past experience with SARS and MERS, which are other diseases caused by coronaviruses, that the spike protein the virus uses to enter cells was likely the right one.
Similarly, Johnson & Johnson has been researching adenovirus-based vaccines — the technology its COVID-19 vaccine uses — for many years in working on vaccines for HIV and Zika, and its Europe-approved Ebola vaccine.
The testing of the vaccines was also sped up by consolidating some of the early testing stages. Companies typically don’t want to proceed with expensive trials until there’s a sign the vaccine will work, but the government took on that financial risk in many cases.
The phase 3 randomized controlled clinical trials were also fast because high levels of disease even before knowing whether the vaccines would be successful.
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