So I’m also confused as the current Covid mRNA vaccines don’t even last a year. The highest recommended flu vaccines they give only protect against 3-4 sub-strains. The strains picked are also chosen by predicting what will be the most prevalent and leads to widely different effectiveness rates year to year (usually around 40-60%). So I guess they are hoping if we use mRNA it might be general enough to prevent substantially more mutated strains. The article seems promising from what I read but I think “could last for years” is a hypothetical best-case scenario when it will need to be tweaked and administered annually.
SamsterOverdrive t1_iujz3e3 wrote
Reply to Scientists use mRNA technology to create a potent flu shot that could last for years by Ezekiel_W
So I’m also confused as the current Covid mRNA vaccines don’t even last a year. The highest recommended flu vaccines they give only protect against 3-4 sub-strains. The strains picked are also chosen by predicting what will be the most prevalent and leads to widely different effectiveness rates year to year (usually around 40-60%). So I guess they are hoping if we use mRNA it might be general enough to prevent substantially more mutated strains. The article seems promising from what I read but I think “could last for years” is a hypothetical best-case scenario when it will need to be tweaked and administered annually.