As many Johnson & Johnson vaccination appointments shift to doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in the wake of a recommended break in Illinois and Chicago, what can those who once anticipated the one-time vaccine expect now?
While the J&J vaccine pause is likely only temporary, both the city and the state have already switched many vaccination clinics and events to one of the remaining vaccines available.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, said on Sunday that he believes the US will likely resume use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as early as this week, although there may be a warning or restriction.
Here’s an overview of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, their possible side effects, and how effective they are thought to be.
What is an mRNA Vaccine?
The Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines differ from traditional vaccines in the use of mRNA.
Rather than introducing a weakened or inactivated germ into your body, this vaccine injects mRNA, the genetic material that our cells read to make proteins, into your upper arm muscle. It teaches your body how to make the protein that triggers antibody production, so when the real virus enters your body later, your immune system will recognize it, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
How effective are the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines?
Questions about vaccine effectiveness have been associated with an increase in the spread of multiple COVID variants.
So far, studies suggest that the vaccines currently in use can recognize the emerging variants, but they may not offer as much protection against the new strains.
However, Pfizer’s latest study results suggested that the vaccine is effective against the coronavirus variant that first emerged in South Africa.
“These data also provide the first clinical results that a vaccine can effectively protect against the currently circulating variants, a critical factor in achieving herd immunity and ending this pandemic for the world’s population,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and CEO. co-founder of BioNTech, in a statement.
Moderna, citing data from his phase three clinical trial, reported that his COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against COVID and more than 95% effective against serious illness for up to six months after the second dose, said Company.
But boosters and new versions of vaccines targeting the variants are already being explored.
Pfizer-BioNTech is testing a third booster shot of its vaccine on fully vaccinated humans. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people “likely” will need a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of being fully vaccinated.
“The flexibility of our proprietary mRNA vaccine platform allows us to technically develop booster vaccines within weeks if needed,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech in a press release.
Late last month, the National Institutes of Health began testing a new Moderna COVID vaccine aimed at protecting against a variant first discovered in South Africa. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC the company hopes to get a boost for its two-dose vaccine that will be available in the fall.
But what about without the variants?
In clinical studies, the Moderna vaccine reported 94.1% efficacy in preventing COVID-19 in humans receiving both doses. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is said to be 95% effective.
A new CDC study reported that a single dose of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s COVID vaccine was 80% effective at preventing infections. That number jumped to 90% two weeks after the second dose, the survey of vaccinated health workers found.
“These findings indicate that authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection, regardless of symptom status, in working-age adults under real-life conditions,” the US agency wrote in the study. “COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all eligible persons.”
It is not known whether any of the vaccines will prevent the spread of the virus in asymptomatic humans.
Monica Hendrickson, Peoria County Health Department’s public health administrator, noted that the vaccines each have high effectiveness against coronavirus death and serious illnesses.
“ So basically you’re looking at a distinction that from a clinical point of view, or from, you know, epidemiological point of view, is very small compared to what we really hope for, which is decrease in death and decrease in severe disease, where they all agree between the three vaccines, “Hendrickson said.” Most importantly, however, when these vaccines come on the market, if you have an option for one of these, you will get one. “
Hendrickson’s message matches a message from Dr. Marina Del Rios, emergency medicine specialist at the University of Illinois-Chicago, on NBC’s “Vaccinated State” panel 5.
“Part of my message to the community was that the vaccines on the market are just as effective and just as safe,” said Del Rios. “The best vaccine you can get is the one you can get first and get vaccinated sooner., Sooner rather than later, protects us from getting sick itself and also our community, which has been so terribly devastated by this virus . “
What are the possible side effects?
Side effects are possible after receiving a COVID vaccine currently being administered in the US
Experiencing side effects isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is a sign that your body is responding.
“The good news for us is that a quick response equates to an effective response,” said Dr. Mark Loafman, president of family and community medicine for Cook County Health in Illinois, NBC 5. “It tells us the vaccine works. Our bodies form a robust immune response and we think that’s a positive thing. So we tend to see that vaccines with higher efficacy also have more of the so-called side effects or symptoms because they work so well. “
According to Pfizer, about 3.8% of the participants in the clinical trial experienced fatigue as a side effect and 2% experienced headaches.
Moderna says 9.7% of their participants felt fatigued and 4.5% developed headaches.
The CDC reports that the most common side effects of the vaccines are at the injection site. They contain:
Common side effects in the body are:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- muscle strain
- Chills
- Fever
- Nausea
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people to stay for 15 minutes after vaccination and those with a history of other allergies for 30 minutes so they can be monitored and treated immediately if they have a reaction.
Are side effects more likely after the first or second dose?
With the two-shot vaccines, people are more likely to report side effects after their second dose, experts say.
According to the CDC, the side effects after your second shot may be “more intense than the side effects you experienced after your first shot.”
“These side effects are normal signs that your body is building up protection and should go away in a few days,” the CDC said.
In studies with both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, more people experienced side effects after the second dose.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get your second injection if you get side effects after your first, experts say.
“When people get that second dose, they get the second booster to try to achieve maximum efficacy,” says Dr. Edward Cachay, infectious disease specialist at UCSD.
The CDC also noted that both recordings are needed.
“The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine both require 2 injections to get the most protection,” the CDC said. “You should have the second injection, even if you have side effects after the first injection, unless a vaccination provider or your doctor tells you not to get it.”
Are certain people more likely to have side effects?
There are also some factors that make you more likely to have side effects.
Chicago’s top doctor said on Thursday that younger people are more likely to have side effects “because younger people generally have more robust immune systems.”
And, according to Loafman, the body’s immune system causes the symptoms.
“That’s just a reflection of the immune response, just like we have when we get sick,” he said.
Arwady also noted that women are more likely to report side effects than men.
“Part of this is because women may just be better reporters … but there’s probably also something real going on, because autoimmune diseases are something else interesting to those who might not know that much about immunity? Too,” Arwady said. And even the more serious ones, like the allergic reactions, the more severe allergic reactions? More likely in women. ”
Why is that?
Arwady said estrogen can increase the immune response, while testosterone can decrease it. At the same time, she noted that “many of your immune modulating genes” can live on an “x” chromosome, of which women have two, while men have one.
“So there are all these reasons why the type of immunity rises a little differently in women in general than in men,” she said. “And so we see women who are a little bit more likely to report some of the side effects.”
Data from the CDC also reported that women were more likely to have side effects than men, according to monitoring from the first month of vaccinations.
From Dec. 14 to Jan. 13, more than 79 percent of side effects were reported by women, the data showed. Meanwhile, women received about 61.2 percent of the doses administered over the same time.
Side effects can also vary depending on whether or not you’ve had coronavirus.
“We’ve seen more likely that people will report some side effects because that acts a bit like a booster dose for your immune system,” Arwady said. “Your immune system has already learned some of those lessons to protect itself, not as long as not as protective.”
“That’s probably that booster effect, too,” Arwady said.
Loafman agrees.
“If you’ve had COVID a while ago or you already have some immunity, it’s more of a booster,” he said. “And boosters for some people are completely asymptomatic, boosters for other people trigger their immune response against it, so they get some inflammation with it.”
But not getting side effects isn’t negative, health experts say.
“If you don’t get side effects, it doesn’t mean you’re not protected,” Arwady said. “I want to be very clear about that.”
According to Loafman, it simply means “your body didn’t react that strongly to an inflammatory response.
“You’re still making antibodies,” he said.
According to Loafman, each person’s response is unique.
“It’s really just a reflection of how unique each of our systems is, what other immunities we have,” he said. “You know, a lot of the antibodies are cross-reacting and we have cross-reactivity, so it’s really a mosaic. Each of our immune systems is a mosaic composite of everything we’ve been through and everything we’ve had and everything we’ve been through recently. Our individual response varies. Everyone gets the right immune response. “