The Special Sauce That Makes Some Vaccines Work
Adjuvants play a crucial role in many vaccines' effectiveness. Some scientists say there needs to be more research into developing a wider variety of adjuvants because of how important they are.
There are many approaches to making a vaccine against COVID-19. Some use genetic material from the coronavirus, some use synthetic proteins that mimic viral proteins and some use disabled versions of the virus itself.
But before any of these approaches can generate the antibodies to the coronavirus that scientists say are essential to protecting people from getting sick, the immune system has to be primed to make those antibodies.
That's the job of something called an adjuvant.
