Moderna vs. Pfizer vs. J&J: Which COVID-19 Vaccine Is Best?

Are you weighing up what COVID jab to get? Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is just as effective as the mRNA vaccines. However, you should appreciate they are very different and harder to compare. J-J and Johnson & Johns vaccines require just one dose, making it a convenient option for many people.

J & J’s vaccine requires only one dose making it an ideal vaccine for people who don’t like needles and want to get it over and done with.

Some people might like to get Pzfier or Moderna because they offer more protection against contracting the disease. Always do research from reputable sources like the CDC before making your decision.

Here’s everything you need to know about Moderna vs Pfzifer vs J&J and Astra.

Test Results

The Pfizer vaccine has been tested for authorized use in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years. Clinical trials have shown that it is 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 with symptoms in people over 16.

The COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca is 76% effective at stopping you get Coronavirus symptoms. This is according to an interim analysis of the company’s phase 3 trial in the US, which involved more than 32,000 people.

Interim results from the Astravenecas study in the United States showed that the vaccine was 76% effective on two doses of Covid 19 symptomatic infection. This is over a four-week period and 100% effective against serious illness and hospitalization.

However, it doesn’t stand up against the Indian variant as well as other vaccines, with only 60% effectiveness.

mRNA Vaccines

The mRNA vaccines such as Pzfier and Moderna are 94% effective in the prevention of hospitalization for Covids-19 in people 65 and older. This is a group that is considered to be at high risk of developing serious diseases.

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine can be left out at normal refrigerator temperatures. This is crucial in getting the vaccine out to more rural areas – one of the most pressing problems in the fight against novel coronaviruses.

Although the vaccine is not approved in the US, we know what we know about it.

If you are out of the country and need a vaccine it’s important to remember it can hold its own against vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson because it’s been around the longest.

Moderna and the Indian Variant

Little data has been released to show how effective Moderna is against the delta variant, but it is believed to offer significant protection against it.

To properly consider it you can ask the experts.

Moderna’s Kenneth Chien says it is a good option. Effectiveness against infections varies, but there are two studies based on the actual use of the vaccine, and both have shown that it provides strong protection.

Study 2, an interim result of a 20-person study, showed that the vaccine neutralized the delta variant 29 days after the first vaccination, with protection improving over time.

Moderna, Pfizer and Biotech Vaccine Technology

Both Moderna vaccines from Pfizer and Biotech USE the same technology – mRNA which provides the genetic code that our cells need to produce antibodies.

Moderna’s vaccine is the second approved for emergency use in the US since it was received by the FDA and the EEA on December 18, 2020, a week after Pfizer’s vaccine for COVID 19.

In clinical trials, Modernas vaccine for COVID 19 was reported to be 94.1% effective in preventing disease in people receiving all doses.

In a large study across three continents, one dose protected 85% of people against severe Covid 19 disease, and protection remains high in countries like South Africa, where the most worrying variant has spread most widely. According to medical experts, all three available COVID 19 vaccines offer some protection.

Effectiveness

Researchers in England looked at how effective two doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Biotech were when compared with the alpha variant discovered in the UK.

The two doses were twice as protection for those who received all doses as for those who received only one dose. In late March a small CDC study involving 3,950 health care workers – first responders and other front-line workers – showed that the vaccine in real-world conditions was 90 % effective for at least 14 days after the full immunization.

Researchers reported that the vaccines were equally effective in many types of people taking into account variables such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), or presence of other diseases.

A Third Shot?

Pfizer and Biotech said that new data from the Israeli Health Ministry showed that the effectiveness of vaccines had declined after 6 months, prompting them to introduce and develop booster shots.

Moderna said a new study showed the vaccine offered promising protection in the lab, differing from other vaccines in circulation. Like the five in Israel, the study was more an outlier and found that Pfizer and Pfizer’s vaccines did not offer as much protection as originally estimated.

The estimated efficacy of the Pfizer / Biotech vaccine after two doses ranged from 64 to 96 percent against the Indian variant.

Another study in Israel suggested that the J-J vaccine after two doses is 64 percent effective in stopping the Indian variant and 64 percent effective in treating symptomatic diseases. Pfizer and Biotech say they are producing a third dose to act as a booster for the Indian version.

 Astra and Blood Clotting

The CDC recommended not using the Astra Zeneca jab after reports of blood clots emerged. There were just six cases of the 6.8 million people who received the vaccine, so this is still a very low number,

Six of the 6.8 million people who received the vaccine were women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms were reported between 6 and 13 days after vaccination.

It’s important to remember that despite this a UK trial of two doses of the vaccine showed 90% efficacy against Covid-19. It also showed 50% overall efficacy in a smaller South African trial.

Astra Vs J&J Vs Moderna Vs Pfizer: Do Your Research

Researching the different vaccines is important before you make up your own mind about which one to have.

There are several different options and different technologies which are all great. If you are worried about the mRNA vaccines like Pzifer or Moderna then a viral vector vaccine or Subunit vaccine might be a better option for you.

When considering Moderna vs Pfizer and the other options be careful to check the legitimacy of the sources you read as there is lots of misinformation circulating.

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