3. The mRNA Breakthrough

The Vax Files

In this third episode, experts discuss the two big mRNA vaccine breakthroughs from Pfizer/BionTech and Moderna, which now have emergency use authorisations in a number of countries. We hear their first impressions on what the “better than expected” results tell us and how that might translate to durability, protection against severe disease and transmission. They also explore the inevitable challenges around gathering future evidence if people in the placebo group are offered the vaccines. The initial safety profile of these mRNA vaccines gets dissected including the reported allergic reactions and cases of Bell’s Palsy. Amid current limitations with these datasets, experts also discuss viewpoints on administering the vaccine to pregnant women, women who want to get pregnant and 16/17 year olds. Expert Guests:

-- Dr Deborah Fuller is a Professor of Microbiology at The University of Washington School of Medicine. A veteran vaccinologist and researcher, she has been working on vaccine development for the last 30 years with specific research around DNA and RNA technologies.

-- Dr Nikolai Petrovsky is a Professor of Medicine, Flinders University in Australia and vice-president and secretary general of the International Immunomics Society. He is the founder of vaccine biotech Vaccine, which has a protein based candidate in early development for Covid-19.

-- Dr Yves Van Laethem is a retired virologist from Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Saint-Pierre and is currently the spokesperson for the fight against coronavirus in Belgium.

-- Dr Scott Evans is a Professor and Founding Chair of The Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at George Washington University. He is a former member of an FDA advisory committee and a member of the steering committee of the clinical trials transformation initiative.

-- Dr Michael Kurilla is the Director of the Division of Clinical Innovation at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, US National Institute of Health. He has been a member of the advisory committee for vaccines and related biologics since 2018.