COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, virus, variants, and immunity
Channel: Irene Kuhn
Date: 2021-04-09

A video for the general public about the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, the virus, the variants, and the immunity that protects us after we are vaccinated. 
UPDATE April 13, 2021: In this video I say that "no one has died from these vaccines." That is still true for the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines explained here. However, sadly, it is no longer true for  the Johnson&Johnson vaccine -- After 7 million J&J vaccinations given, we now know of one death, and 6 cases of severe blood clots, to date.
I'll be explaining how 40 years of publicly-funded scientific research made it possible to so very quickly know how to make the mRNA vaccines to protect us against COVID-19. 
 I focus first on the Moderna mRNA vaccine, the scientists whose research it is based on, an overview of the clinical trials and the focus on racial and gender inclusion, reports of how much protection these vaccines have been shown to provide, and I explain how both the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines and the Johnson&Johnson Ad26 vaccines teach our immune systems to protect us from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 
 I then give a basic overview of how viruses infect cells, how respiratory virus infections are spread, the SPIKE proteins' actions that pull the virus into cells, and that viral replication in cells is the only way that variants are created.
Viral variants will continue to emerge as long as people continue to be infected by this virus; this video explains why getting vaccinated as soon as the vaccines are available to you is one of the best ways to prevent the creation of more variants.  This video is given freely to everyone, globally.  Irene Kuhn, PhD