NORFOLK, Va. — It’s something you may have heard friends or family say – they’re worried about getting a vaccine that was developed in less than a year.
Eastern Virginia Medical School infectious disease expert Dr. Edward Oldfield says there’s no need for concern because this new vaccine did go through all the necessary steps.
“It’s not that we skipped any steps. It’s that the steps are quicker because of this new scientific technology," Oldfield said.
That new scientific technology is something called a messenger RNA vaccine, or mRNA for short.
To put it simply, mRNA tell our cells how to make a certain protein, that triggers an immune response, which protects us from getting sick.
Oldfield said scientists have been working on this for the last decade.
“And it just so happened that all the steps were in place when COVID came,” he said.
Oldfield explained, it’s this new technology, developed after years of research, that helped medical experts effectively create a vaccine.
They didn’t compromise safety or skip any steps when it comes to the vaccine trials.
“It went through phase one, phase two, phase three," Oldfield said. "And the size of these trials were exactly the same as what you would have with one of the old standard vaccines.”
The FDA authorized emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine, late Friday night.