claim: COVID-19 RNA vaccines weren’t made with messenger RNA; vaccine RNA cannot be broken down in the body
evidence: Covid-19 RNA vaccine, illustration. The vaccine consists of strands of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) encased in a lipid nanoparticle sphere (red) surrounded by a polyethylene glycol coat (violet). The mRNA codes for a mutated version of the viral spike protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes Covid-19. When injected into the body the mRNA is taken up by the body's cells, which manufacture copies of the protein. The proteins stimulate an immune response, causing the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein. This means that the body is primed to attack the virus should it be encountered after vaccination, preventing disease. The first RNA vaccine approved for human use, developed against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, was approved in the UK on 2nd December 2020.Credit: Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/ Getty Images The messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines that helped control the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t come out of nowhere. For decades after mRNA was first isolated in the 1960s, scientists worked to understand how it might help fight disease — using the body’s instruction manual to replace defective proteins or produce new, helpful ones. [...] Using mRNA, or any nucleic acid, as a drug requires overcoming several hurdles. First, it is easily degraded in the body. If RNA is simply injected into a person, it is quickly broken down before it can get into cells to create proteins. It needs some kind of delivery system.