How does the COVID-19 vaccine work? Matthew Miller, infectious disease scientist

Matthew Miller, an associate professor of infectious diseases and immunology at McMaster University in Hamilton explains how the COVID-19 vaccine works. For the full interview watch the video at the bottom of the story.

How does the COVID-19 vaccine work?

Matthew Miller: Yeah, so this vaccine is an MRNA vaccine and what MRNA is, it's essentially the code that our cells use to make proteins. This particular MRNA vaccine provides the code for the spike protein of of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. And it's our immune response to that protein that's capable of protecting us from infection. So, what this vaccine does is it essentially teaches our cells how to make and recognize this spike protein, which alone is is not dangerous at all. Right. It's just a very small subcomponent of the virus. And in that way, when we actually do get exposed to virus, our immune system knows what it looks like and is able to protect us in advance. 

Watch the full interview with Matthew Miller below.

How does the COVID-19 vaccine work and how safe is it? CBC Asks an infectious disease scientist

4 years ago

Duration 27:57

Matthew Miller, an associate professor of infectious diseases and immunology at McMaster University in Hamilton, takes your questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.