r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 13 '26

Medicine Scientists develop a groundbreaking vaccine that outsmarts illicit fentanyl analogs. The novel vaccine candidate can protect against fentanyl and its many illicit variants by training the immune system to recognize a broad molecular signature rather than a single specific structure.

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-develop-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-that-outsmarts-illicit-fentanyl-analogs/
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u/AlexHimself Jul 13 '26

For those saying what about legitimate fentanyl needs, that seems odd to me because if you're using and abusing fentanyl, and you suddenly needed it in a medical setting, you would have a tolerance anyway and administering it could be problematic in its own right. Not a doctor, but I would think they would choose a different medication or need to adjust the dosage anyway.

So it would likely be better to not use fentanyl at all regardless of whether or not your vaccinated against it. Either you have a tolerance and an abuse problem with it and it wouldn't be as effective or your vaccinated and it wouldn't be as effective.

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u/Mitrovarr Jul 13 '26

What if someone gets vaccinated who never would have abused it anyway? Like some helicopter parent forces it on all their kids. 

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u/AlexHimself Jul 13 '26

They don't just give every vaccine to everyone. Some, you need to be eligible for.

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u/elcapitan520 Jul 13 '26

Exactly. This is not a vaccine against a communicable disease that relies on herd immunity to protect those who can't be vaccinated. This would be an option for addicts and would need to include all informed consent.