Many vaccines are intended to reduce disease severity, Elizabeth Tracey reports
Update: 2025-11-10
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Covid vaccines boosted the immune response in people being treated for cancer and improved their survival, a recent study concludes. mRNA expert Jeff Coller at Johns Hopkins says as more evidence mounts establishing the benefits of mRNA vaccines, we need to be mindful of how messaging around them creates expectation.
Coller: We originally were told that the vaccines would prevent you from getting COVID. That was a message that was oversold at the beginning and people did get COVID. They said well these vaccines didn't work. Did the vaccine work? Well you didn’t die did you? so yes it did work. It did exactly what it was supposed to do which is to prevent hospitalization and death. It's the same thing with the seasonal flu vaccine. It is very difficult to get a vaccine against a respiratory virus that is neutralizing, meaning that you do not contract it. I don't know of one that really does that. :32
Coller says such messaging around vaccines for respiratory illnesses is critical. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
Coller: We originally were told that the vaccines would prevent you from getting COVID. That was a message that was oversold at the beginning and people did get COVID. They said well these vaccines didn't work. Did the vaccine work? Well you didn’t die did you? so yes it did work. It did exactly what it was supposed to do which is to prevent hospitalization and death. It's the same thing with the seasonal flu vaccine. It is very difficult to get a vaccine against a respiratory virus that is neutralizing, meaning that you do not contract it. I don't know of one that really does that. :32
Coller says such messaging around vaccines for respiratory illnesses is critical. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
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