There is one part of your commentary that I would like to clarify. I agree with you, but I focused on how the genetic sequence of the virus spike protein was made, i.e. the vaccine that is injected into the body.
You stated, “they teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.” That is correct. But the “teaching” is done by injecting an artificially generated RNA sequence or segment that replicates the spike protein of the virus.
What makes this different is that the segment is artificially created and not a part of a virus. Is the imitation identical? Hope so.
Thats a really great question.
Because the entire genome of Corona - 19 has been mapped, it is easy to map the gene for the spike protein. The mRNA is thus synthesized for just that gene, so you only translate the spike protein.
It really is rather elegant. It is an arrow right at the Achilles heel of the virus. Because it is only this sequence that is exposed to the ribosomes, only this protein is made.