A QAnon and anti-vaccine podcaster has died from complications due to COVID-19 after contracting the virus at a conspiracy theory conference that turned into a superspreader event, and where fellow attendees baselessly blamed their illness on an anthrax attack.
The Herman Cain Award goes to…
My point is this is the first time we are using mRNA to program our cells to produce spike. Previous vaccines took the entire virus either attenuated or dead to stimulate the immune response.
This is the first time we are using an mRNA snippet to program our cells to make a specific protein.
So no, factually you are incorrect. This is not “exactly” how viruses work.
Viruses insert RNA (or DNA, depending on the virus) into the cells they infect, and use your cells’ own machinery to replicate themselves, including portions of their capsids like spike proteins.
That’s… also what the mRNA vaccines do. The poster above is right. Whether it’s the vaccine or the virus, they’re both hijacking your cells’ to produce “body parts” of the virus.
This is true. I was incorrect. I guess my point is that it’s the first time humans are doing it to humans.
[edit] Further clarification: First time we are selecting/designing mRNA vs an occurance in nature.