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The Fastest Vaccine Development in History
Developing vaccines normally takes many years, but COVID-19 changed that timeline dramatically.

Researchers built upon decades of previous work involving coronaviruses and mRNA technology. Governments invested billions of dollars while pharmaceutical companies collaborated internationally.

Instead of skipping safety steps, many clinical trial phases were conducted simultaneously, allowing vaccines to become available much faster.

Different Types of COVID-19 Vaccines
mRNA Vaccines
Vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use messenger RNA to teach the immune system how to recognize the coronavirus spike protein without exposing people to the virus itself.

Importantly, mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus and does not alter human DNA.

Viral Vector Vaccines
Vaccines such as Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson use a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic instructions that help the immune system build protection.