How do COVID-19 mRNA vaccines work? COVID-19 mRNA vaccines deliver directions, in the form of messenger RNA, or mRNA, so cells make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This protein educates our immune system, so it produces antibodies that can neutralize similar versions of this coronavirus during future encounters. The mRNA-containing lipid particles are taken up by specialized immune system cells. See more: http://COVIDVaccineAnswers.org

Play a Kahoot! trivia game based on this animation. Visit http://www.vaccinemakers.org/trivia.

Another type of COVID-19 vaccine uses a weakened adenovirus to deliver instructions to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Watch the animation, “How COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccines Work,” to learn more:    • How COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccines Work  .

Animation created by and for the Vaccine Makers Project.
The Vaccine Makers Project gratefully acknowledges the ongoing collaboration and partnership with XVIVO, creator of medical animations and scientific media: https://xvivo.com.
Copyright © 2021, Medical History Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Vaccine Makers Project (VMP) is the classroom-based program of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (VEC at CHOP). The Center’s team is composed of scientists, physicians, mothers and fathers devoted to the study and prevention of infectious diseases. The Center was launched in October 2000 to provide accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. The VMP program is committed to public education about vaccine science via scientifically supported, historically accurate, and emotionally compelling content.

Access the VMP’s free classroom materials: http://www.VaccineMakers.org.

Find information and resources related to vaccines and their safety: http://vaccine.chop.edu.

Learn more about the award-winning documentary for which the original animations were created. The documentary tells the compelling story of one of the world’s most accomplished scientists, Maurice Hilleman: http://www.HillemanFilm.com.