Get vaccinated as soon as you can.
by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay.
Johnson and Johnson/Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies Vaccine (Received EUA 02.27.21)
Who Can Get It
Authorized for use in people age 18 and older
How Many Shots Required
One – no boosters needed
How Well Does It Work?
- 100% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths
- 85% effective in preventing severe disease
- 42% effective in preventing moderate to severe disease in folks older than 60 who have additional risk factors (this may be not really be true – might be a statistical artifact.)
- 74% efficacy against asymptomatic disease (this indicates that the vaccine decreases disease transmission).
- Efficacy against variants: 82% efficacy against severe disease in South Africa, 50 – 60% efficacy against Delta (which is still pretty good!)
- Don’t knock this vaccine for not having the same efficacy numbers as the Pfizer and Moderna ones. If you’re offered this vaccine, take it – it’ll keep you from being hospitalized or dying of COVID-19, which is what matters.
Most common side effects
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Muscle aches
- Nausea
- Fever
- No reports of severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
How Does It Work?
Uses a harmless common-cold-type virus that “has been engineered to carry the SARS-2 spike protein and to introduce the spike to the immune system, prompting it to recognize SARS-2 and protect against it.”
When Will It Be Available for Kids?
They haven’t released any info about the kiddos yet.
What Else Is Important?
In a VERY SMALL percentage of cases it can cause severe blood clots – but again, SUPER unlikely. If you get this vaccine, you’re more than twice as likely to be hit by lightning in given year than you are to get a serious blood clot.
Also in a VERY SMALL percentage of cases (less than 1 in 100,000) it can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the nerves. Comparison: You’re a thousand times more likely to get long COVID if you get infected than you are to get GB syndrome if you get the J&J shot.
It can be stored for months in normal refrigerators, which makes it easier to use in remote areas.
Moderna Vaccine (Received EUA 12.18.20)
Who Can Get It
Authorized for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.
How Many Shots Required
Requires two doses, given one month apart.
How Well Does It Work?
Now that Delta is in the picture, things have changed a bit. Updated info coming soon.
- In clinical trials, it was 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID after two doses.
- A Mayo Clinic study showed that it decreased the risk of asymptomatic disease/transmission by 80%. A CDC study under real-world conditions showed it was 90% effective at preventing infections, including asymptomatic ones.
- Efficacy against variants: As of mid-May 2021, despite some reduction in neutralizing antibodies, evidence indicates that it should work against all circulating variants, including B.1.351, the variant first documented in South Africa the NY variant, and the rest of the gang. They’re making a booster just to be sure.
Most Common Side Effects
“The most commonly reported side effects, which typically lasted several days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, nausea and vomiting, and fever. . . . More people experienced these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose.”
Chance of severe allergic reaction about 2.5 per 10,000.
How Does It Work?
Made using messenger RNA (mRNA), which serves as “a recipe to make the surface protein (known as spike) on the SARS-2 virus. The proteins made with the mRNA instructions activate the immune system, teaching it to see the spike protein as foreign and develop antibodies and other immunity weapons with which to fight it.”
NB: It does not alter your body’s DNA at all.
When Will It Be Available for Kids?
They’re hoping to have data on kids age 12 – 18 by the time school opens in September. In March they began a study testing the vaccine in children under 12, but that study won’t be complete until sometime in 2022.
What Else Is Important?
Must be shipped and stored at -4 Fahrenheit (requires standard freezer).
Its ability to prevent infection appears to decrease by 6% per month, but it continues to be 97% effective at preventing severe disease and death.
Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine ( Received EUA 12.11.20)
Who Can Get It
Fully FDA-approved for people age 16 and up. Has Emergency Use Authorization for use in people 12 years of age and older.
How Many Shots Required
Requires two doses, three weeks apart.
How Well Does It Work?
Now that Delta is in the picture, things have changed a bit. Updated info coming soon.
- Has about 94% effectiveness at preventing symptomatic disease, and about 92% effectiveness at preventing severe disease (real-world data from Israel).
- A Mayo Clinic study showed that it decreased the risk of asymptomatic disease/transmission by 80%. The company claims it’s 94% effective at preventing transmission. A CDC study under real-world conditions showed it was 90% effective at preventing infections, including asymptomatic ones.
- Efficacy against variants: As of mid-June, available evidence indicates that it should work against all significant circulating variants, including B.1.1.7/Alpha (first documented in Britain), B.1.351 (South Africa), P.1 (Brazil), B.1.526 (New York), B.1.427/9 (California), and B.1.617/Delta (India).
Most Common Side Effects
“The most commonly reported side effects, which typically lasted several days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, and fever. . . . More people experienced these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose.”
Chance of severe allergic reaction: 11.1 per million or about 1 in 90,000. “That’s less than 3 percent of the lifetime risk of dying from choking on food.”
How Does It Work?
Made using messenger RNA (mRNA), which serves as “a recipe to make the surface protein (known as spike) on the SARS-2 virus. The proteins made with the mRNA instructions activate the immune system, teaching it to see the spike protein as foreign and develop antibodies and other immunity weapons with which to fight it.”
NB: It does not alter your body’s DNA, and it won’t make you magnetic, so if you were hoping to impersonate Magneto for Halloween, you’re outta luck.
When Will It Be Available
For Little Kids?
Phase I trials for kids ages 6 months – 11 years started in late March. Pfizer hopes to submit its vaccine for EUA for kids ages 2 – 11 in September 2021.
What Else Is Important?
In a VERY SMALL number of cases it can cause mild, easily treatable myocarditis, especially in teens and young adults. Per NPR: “‘Take a stadium full of 100,000 people between the ages of 16 and 39. . . . Vaccinate all of them, and two might get myocarditis.’ But if you don’t vaccinate any of the 100,000, . . . about 1,300 would eventually get COVID-19.”
It can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures for a month, but if it needs to be stored longer than that, it has to be kept at -94 Fahrenheit (requires special freezer).
COVID-Safe Schools 