A Comparison Between The Available Brands Of COVID-19 Vaccines

COVID-19 has taken a serious toll on our physical and mental health, we have lived in fear for more than 18 months and finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the vaccine!

According to CDC, the best COVID-19 vaccine is the first one that is available to you. Do not wait for a specific brand.

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Since December 19 and we have been through all the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdowns, the quarantine, and the loss of beloved ones.

Scientists have been racing to find vaccines to stop the spread of the deadly virus and governments funding the research to speed up the process and end up this pandemic. It is our role now to protect ourselves and people around us by taking the vaccine.

How do vaccines work?

Before comparing the different available brands of vaccines let us see how vaccines work,

Vaccines work by training and preparing the body’s natural defenses – the immune system – to recognize and fight off the viruses and bacteria they target. After vaccination, if the body is later exposed to those disease-causing germs, the body is immediately ready to destroy them, preventing illness through cells called ‘memory cells’. So basically, the vaccine introduces the virus itself whether killed or weakened, parts of the virus or even a protein of it in a measured dose so your body fights it off and forms an army ready for any future attacks.

Emergency use approval (EUA)

Many of us question the efficacy and side effects of the available vaccines, and the reason for that is the lack of enough information and clarity. Ideally, the vaccine process takes decades to develop a safe vaccine, but in a pandemic like the one we are living in now, this process had to be drastically speeded up.

Accordingly, instead of the usual requirement of “substantial evidence” of safety and effectiveness for approval, the FDA can allow products onto the market as long as their benefits are likely to outweigh their risks. It has already used its emergency powers to authorize hundreds of coronavirus tests and a handful of treatments during the pandemic.

Currently available vaccines

At the moment, there are many available vaccines, and we all wonder what the difference between them is. In the following table you will find most of the information you are looking for regarding the 6 most common vaccines now.

1- Pfizer- bioNTech

• Doses: 2 doses, 21 days apart
• Delivery method: mRNA vaccine
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 95%
• Side effects: Injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, fever, nausea, feeling unwell and swollen lymph nodes
• FDA approval: Approved

2- Moderna

• Doses: 2 days, 28 days apart
• Delivery method: mRNA vaccine
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 94%
• Side effects: Injection site pain, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, fever, nausea, feeling unwell and swollen lymph nodes
• FDA approval: Approved

3- Johnson & johnson

• Doses: One dose
• Delivery method: Vector vaccine
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 66%
• Side effects: mild symptoms as injection site pain, headaches and muscle pain,
  but Possible severe symptoms include blood clots and low platelets.
• FDA approval: Approved

4- AstraZeneka- oxford

• Doses: 2 doses, 2-4 weeks apart
• Delivery method: Vector vaccine
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 76%
• Side effects: Mild side effects that include pain at the site of injection, body aches, fever.Rare but serious side effects include anaphylactic reaction, blood clots.
• FDA approval: Not approved

5- Sinopharm- China

• Doses: 2 doses, 21 days apart
• Delivery method: Inactivated virus
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 79-86%
• Side effects: Minor side effects like fatigue, body aches and fever
• FDA approval: Not approved

6- Gamaleya- sputnik V (Russia)

• Doses: 2 doses, 21 days apart
• Delivery method: Vector vaccine
• Effectiveness against mild symptoms: 92-97%
• Side effects: Minor side effects like pain at the site of injection and headaches.
• FDA approval: Not approved

 

Very interesting post