WHP question to MS Copilot: By what reasoning are mRNA injections called vaccines?

Great question, Bill. The term *vaccine* traditionally refers to a substance that stimulates the immune system to recognize and fight pathogens, typically by introducing a weakened or inactivated form of the virus or a piece of it. mRNA vaccines follow the same principle—but with a modern twist. Instead of injecting a virus or protein directly, **mRNA vaccines deliver a snippet of genetic instructions** (messenger RNA) that tells your cells how to produce a harmless piece of the virus—like the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Your immune system then recognizes this protein as foreign and mounts a defense, creating antibodies and memory cells. So if you encounter the real virus later, your body is already primed to fight it. This mechanism still fits the core definition of a vaccine: **a biological preparation that provides immunity to a particular disease**. The innovation lies in how the immune system is trained—not in what it’s being trained to do. It’s a bit like teaching your immune system with a blueprint instead of a sample. Want to dive deeper into how this compares to traditional vaccines or explore the tech behind it?