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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 9, 2023

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adenoviral vectors. [is that traditional vaccination?]

Depends what you mean by "traditional", but not really. I would describe viral vector vaccines as more tested than mRNA vaccines, but they still haven't made much end-use impact. What I would personally describe as a traditional vaccine would be any of:

  • Attenuated pathogens, such as the MMR vaccine.

  • Inactivated pathogens, such as the old whole-cell pertussis vaccine.

  • Antigen and adjuvant, such as the newer acellular pertussis vaccine.

Some percentage of antibodies end up as IgG4, which may reduce effectiveness at clearing an infection once it gets established.

This may also be a marker for something even weirder (maybe worse) going on - IgG4 can be associated with immune tolerance and anti-inflammatory responses. If additional boosts skew even further, this could be a real concern.