By Maddie Greves
Since the vaccine was approved, over 110 million vaccines have been administered. President Joe Biden promised early on that in his first 100 days in office there will be 100 million doses of the vaccine, so he is well-ahead of that schedule. Now he has promised that there will be 300 million doses by the end of May. At present, around 20% of Americans have received the first dose and around 10% have been fully vaccinated.
The United States is currently using three different types of vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson. But what is the difference between each one?
Pfizer
Pfizer, an mRNA vaccine, was the first vaccine to be approved by the FDA in the United States. This one requires two doses 21 days apart. According to the CDC, “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.” In clinical trials, the vaccine is 95% effective against COVID-19.
Moderna
The next vaccine to be approved was from Moderna. This one is also a two-dose vaccine but instead, it is 28 days apart. Like Pfizer, Moderna’s vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine. In Moderna’s clinical trials, the vaccine is 94% effective. Recently they have been testing booster shots against new and upcoming variants that show some concern. The youngest age to receive this vaccine is 18, but Moderna has started a trial for babies and young children to see if that age restriction can be lowered.
Johnson and Johnson
The most recent vaccine to be approved was from Johnson and Johnson. The biggest difference between this vaccine and the other two is that this one is only a single dose instead of two. This will cause the number of people fully vaccinated to increase at a faster rate than the other vaccines that require two doses.
How are other countries distributing the vaccine and how effective has it been?
Worldwide there have been over 381 million vaccines administered. In Europe, many countries have suspended the usage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to cases of people getting blood clots. As of right now, it is unknown if or when they will get back to using this vaccine.
While the number of people being vaccinated is increasing and cases are dropping, the CDC still strongly recommends that we continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Pfizer-BioNTech.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/16/world/covid-19-coronavirus
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html
Photo