The COVID-19 outbreak has had a huge global impact, prompting the scientific community to develop a range of vaccines against the disease at an accelerated pace. Public reactions to the unprecedentedly rapid development and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines have been mixed, with a significant minority expressing concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy. In particular, vaccines utilising relatively new mRNA-based technology have come under intense scrutiny.

With the current surge in cases of the Delta variant of the virus, a new article in The FEBS Journal comes just in time to remind us of the solid scientific evidence in support of COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, the most common rumours and misinformation that have been the main cause of scepticism around COVID-19 vaccines are discussed and clarified by renowned immunologists Professor Daniel Altmann and Dr Victoria Male in this interview-based article. Daniel (Danny) Altmann heads an immunology and infectious disease-focused laboratory at the Hammersmith Hospital Campus, and Victoria (Viki) Male is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow and Lecturer in Reproductive Immunology based in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction. Speaking to The FEBS Journal’s Editorial Manager Paraminder Dhillon, they aim to alleviate common concerns by addressing several key questions relating to the development, mechanisms and side effects of the vaccines.

Read the article in full here: https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/febs.16094