Types of Vaccines:

• mRNA: Messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines provide instructions to the cell for making the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The cell displays the spike protein on the surface of the cell; immune system recognizes the foreign protein and builds an immune response.

• Viral Vector-Based: Viral vector-based vaccines use a harmless virus (the adenovirus/common cold virus) vector as a delivery mechanism to deliver the instructions to produce the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the cell. The body mounts an immune response against the spike protein.

• Protein Subunit: Protein subunit vaccines use purified spike proteins of the virus to stimulate the body into making immune cells such as T-lymphocytes, antibodies, and memory cells. A piece of the virus's genetic code is inserted into another cell (bacterial, yeast, mammalian, or insect) with code for the cell to produce the spike protein, which is then extracted and purified as the active ingredient in the vaccine.

• Plant-Based: The plant-based vaccine uses a SARS-CoV-2 spike recombinant protein virus-like particle (VLP) that mimics the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19. Carrier plants like the potato, corn, tobacco, or others produce large quantities of VLPs, which is the ingredient that produces the immune response in the body.

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Approved Vaccines in Canada:

• Spikevax (Moderna)

• Comirnaty (Pfizer)

• Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca)

• Janssen (Johnson & Johnson)

• Nuvaxovid (Novavax)

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UPDATE: Covifenz (Medicago) is no longer produced by the company

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