Vaccines Global Summit

Vaccines are potentially great mechanisms of preventing diseases, and they may take a variety of forms that could help facilitate alternative mechanisms of inducing immune responses. Therefore, knowing the variations of vaccines with their particular properties enlightens the mechanism of protection against certain diseases and public health efforts across the world.

Live-attenuated vaccines contain a weakened virus or bacteria that causes the disease. These vaccines are highly efficient because they will provoke the strongest immune response, as if one has been naturally infected. Examples include the MMR and the oral polio vaccines. However, live vaccines cannot be issued to everybody due to the fact that some people have feeble immune systems and, therefore, need other forms of immunization.

Inactivated vaccines, on the other hand, use a killed form of the pathogen. While these vaccines are generally required in booster doses to maintain immunity, they can be safer for a larger population, such as those with very compromised immune systems. Examples of inactivated vaccines include hepatitis A and the IPV.

Subunit, recombinant, and conjugate vaccines only use parts of the pathogen, such as proteins or sugars, to induce immunity. These vaccines elicit fewer side effects than live-attenuated or inactivated vaccines since they have parts of the virus or bacteria but not the active organism. For example, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the hepatitis B vaccine.

mRNA vaccines represent the new frontier in vaccine technology. They use messenger RNA to make cells produce a protein that leads to an immune response. A good example is the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-created COVID-19 vaccines. mRNA vaccines can be developed rapidly and have thus far shown great promise to be used swiftly to act against emerging diseases. The body triggers an immune response because a harmless virus has been used to deliver genetic material from the pathogen into the host cells. Some examples include the Ebola vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. This vaccine is useful for situations requiring deployment.

Every type of vaccine has specific characteristics that make them suitable for specific diseases and caters to many public health needs. Through the extensive capabilities of various types of vaccines, scientists and healthcare providers can offer more tailored protection that would slow down the spread of a disease and work their way toward a healthier global population.