[fChk]

From what I understand with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, they do not contain the live virus. I believe they contain the spike protein which allows for our bodies to create antibodies against COVID, ...........

The vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are both mRNA-based, i.e. they contain the messenger-RNA (RiboNucleic Acid) of the Covid-19's 'spike' protein. When injected into the patient bodies will end up translated into the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by our cells and, because its a 'foreign' protein, will trigger the sought-after immune response: meaning the generation of the adhoc Antibodies by the lymphocytes B and hoppefully also by lymphocytes T (for long-term memory.)

The corner-stone concept to be aware of here(/in Immunology) is that immunity is based on the fact that our body can distinguish between what's 'self' and what's a foreign body (/alien) based on a TAGging system called the MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex.)

Covid-19's vaccines are of 4 types:
> mRNA-based (the case of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as mentioned above),
> adenovirus-based vector (which is the case of Oxford-AstraZeneca),
> Protein subunit vaccines (which is the case of Novavax and Chinese Academy of Sciences) and
> whole attenuated form of the virus itself (which is the case for the 2 Chinese vaccines: Sinopharm and SinoVar)