mRNA vaccines proved safe and effective during COVID, review says. Cancer could be next – CBC
Global clinical trial currently evaluating mRNA-based approach to treating bladder cancer
Jun 30, 2026
The billions of mRNA vaccine doses that went into arms worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic build on clinical trial data confirming the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine technology now poised to personalize cancer treatment, according to a new review.
Dr. Manish Sadarangani, director of the Vaccine Evaluation Centre at B.C. Children’s Hospital, and his co-authors combed through published data from laboratory research, clinical trials and real-world surveillance from Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines from January 2020 through December 2025 to assess their scientific and public health impacts.
In Tuesday’s issue of the medical journal The Lancet, the researchers highlighted one analysis showing mRNA vaccines had 87 per cent effectiveness against documented infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 and 94 per cent against mortality two to six weeks after vaccination. But the continual arrival of new viral variants means the effectiveness might change.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/mrna-vaccines-lancet-review-9.7254665
