What You Should Know About COVID-19 Vaccines

As COVID-19 spreads more rapidly companies have been pushed to bring out vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna have been the main two many people have been receiving. They both are a two step process each having time in between both shots. On the contrary Johnson and Johnson are potentially coming out with a vaccine that is one and done. Their goal is to implement a simple yet effective solution for the largest amount of people. They have hope that they can have maximum impact to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 11th, the FDA issued the first emergency authorization for a vaccine that could potentially prevent the COVID-19 virus. The Pfizer vaccine is recommended for people aged 16 years and older. The Pfizer vaccine has both synthetic, or chemically produced, components and enzymatically produced components from naturally occurring substances such as proteins. According to the Pfizer website there is no live virus, it has inactive ingredients instead. The company suggests that people who suffer from a history of severe adverse or allergic reactions to a vaccine or a vaccine ingredient shouldn’t get the vaccine.

The second vaccine is by Moderna the FDA issued an emergency use authorization on December 18th. The Moderna vaccine is recommended for people aged 18 years and older. Some side effects that are commonly reported are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headaches, muscle pain, chills, etc. To note, many people experienced these side effects after the second dose rather than the first, it usually lasts a day or two.

The next upcoming vaccine is from Johnson & Johnson; it is a single shot compared to the others that are a two step process. The vaccine is 85 percent effective overall at preventing hospitalization and death in all regions where it was tested. It has also shown to be 66 percent effective in preventing moderate and severe disease. Many people are thinking about getting this vaccine because it is done within one shot. Over time more companies are coming out with vaccines that can hopefully become accessible to the greater population.