Research Paper on Which Covid-19 Vaccine Is The Best

The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone.  This past year our whole world has been turned upside down. Luckily, society now has a proven vaccine that can help us overcome this virus.  Not only do we have a vaccine, but we have three different brands to choose from in the United States.  Branswell (2021) begins by describing the three major types of vaccines in the United States; Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna.  The COVID-19 pandemic shook the entire world, and no one was ready.  Scientists worked day and night to come up with a vaccine to hopefully wipe out this pandemic.  Three very known brands of vaccines are now available for use in the United States. Moderna and Pfizer are similar in how they are made.  They are made using messanger RNA, this teaches the immune system to recognize the protein spike as foreign.  J&J is a viral vectored vaccine and instructs human cells to make this protein spike to activate the immune system.  Scientist have come a very long way in a short amount of time, but is this swift stride safe?

Stein (2021) stated that Moderna is holding up better than the other two as far as long-term protection.  Johnson and Johnson was noted as the weakest as far as protection against the virus.  Moderna vaccine is 93% effective, and while some people did contract the virus, fewer hospitalizations have occurred with this vaccine.  The J&J vaccine showed a much more worrisome average at 71% effective.  Again, these numbers are not speculating that a person will not contract the virus but shows that these individuals are able to stay out of the hospital with less severe affects.

CDC (2021) Moderna requires one initial vaccine then the second vaccine spaced out to be twenty-eight days apart.  Adverse reactions to this vaccine include pain, swelling, fever, headache, chills, nausea, and fever.  The CDC states that during clinical trial Moderna showed a 94.1% effectiveness at preventing COVID-19.  That is a miraculous number considering we did not know anything about this virus a little over a year ago.

CDC (2021) Pfizer ranked number one in clinical trials at being the most effective vaccine against preventing COVID-19.   The CDC states that during clinical trial Pfizer had a 95% effective rate.  This does not discredit Moderna, because there is only a 0.9% difference in effectiveness.  I believe this shows how lucky we are to have scientists that can make such an effective vaccine in such a short amount of time.  Side effects are about the same as Moderna.  These symptoms include; pain, fever, nausea, swelling, headache, and tiredness. 

CDC (2021) goes into listing all the common side effects to this specific vaccine which include pain, swelling near the site of injection, headache, nausea, muscle pain, and fever to name a few.  The clinical trials performed by J&J showed 66.3% effectiveness which some would argue is low for such a quickly made vaccine.  Others may argue the opposite, for scientists to have to make a vaccine is such critical circumstance 66.3% effectiveness is a very good number.  One thing is clear, J&J has the lowest percentage of effectiveness across the board between the three vaccine choices.

Barba (2021) describes the clinical trials on the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna).  The greatest risk for these vaccinations, as noted previously, is myocarditis (1-5 events per 100,000). The author notes that this is a severe adverse reaction, but it does not surpass the chance of contraction COVID-19 and possibly dying from this virus. This is an ongoing pandemic that can only be solved by a vaccination.  We are lucky, because when the influenza virus first made its name, we were not prepared.  Modern technology and scientific advances have made it where not as many deaths took place as what could have happened. 

Cleveland Clinic (2021) discusses many different side effects that can happen from taking the different vaccines.  The numbers are very low, but is it worth the risk?  A small number of individuals have reported developing a rare blood clotting disease after administration of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.  This disorder normally occurs in women and symptoms begin about six to fifteen days after the injection. J&J vaccine users have also reported a rare autoimmune disorder known as Guillain-Barré Syndrome after taking the vaccination.  This autoimmune disorder will begin to attack the patient’s nervous system. Only about 0.0008% of users have had this occurrence happen.  Pfizer and Moderna do not go unrecognized with extreme adverse side effects.  After the second dose of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer and Moderna) young adults have reported myocarditis and pericarditis.  However, this is extremely rare.

FDA (2021) has now cleared the use of Pfizer not only for emergency use, but has been granted full approval.  They credit this as a huge milestone against the COVID-19 fight.  For a vaccine to be cleared, it must go through many tests including safety and effectiveness. This took time because they wanted to monitor long-term reactions.  Just because this vaccine is now FDA cleared does not mean that all research stops.  The FDA will continue to monitor the safety of vaccine users and its effectiveness towards the COVID-19 virus.  The virus may end up like the flu, where a modified vaccine will be needed.  The FDA plans to stay on top of this for the safety of users. 

(NBC 2021) stated that Moderna placed their submission for FDA approval one month after Pfizer submitted theirs.   They are hoping we are weeks away from getting FDA approval for yet another vaccine.  That does not mean that is unsafe now to take.  The FDA gave emergency use approval for all three of the vaccines discussed.  This final approval of the FDA just means that scientist have had enough time to study the vaccine.  They want to ensure that no long-term side effects could result from taking the vaccine.  Each company has to submit at least six months of clinical data to get FDA approval.  This obviously could not happen in the beginning of the pandemic.  

CBS (2021) stated that for right now, Johnson and Johnson have not begun the process for FDA approval. This vaccine was ready for use in late February.  The FDA requires companies to submit at least six months of clinical data for safety and effectiveness. The company states that they will file for FDA approval in late 2021.  This means that soon the FDA can begin the process for full approval for three different vaccines. 

Maragakis (2021) states that over the past few months millions of people have received one of the three COVID-19 vaccines.  Scientist and experts are not going to throw a random vaccine and jeopardize the safety of the people.  The FDA and CDC continue to strictly monitor each vaccine.  If they believe that a vaccine becomes unsafe they will cease administration much like they did with the J&J vaccine in April of 2021.  They briefly paused the administration of all J&J vaccines due to a very rare side effect.  They needed to be sure that the benefit outweighed the risk of this vaccine.  After confirmation they uplifted the pause put on the vaccine, and administration of Johnson and Johnson continued.  This should make the people of the United States feel more comfortable.  If there is any question about the safety of a vaccine, cease of injections will be affective immediately. 

Balch (2021) has many different physician’s opinions about which vaccine is the safest and most effective.  Many say that Pfizer and Moderna are the top vaccine choices, but others say take whatever vaccine is available to you.  It is almost like comparing apples to apples.  All of the vaccines available have gone through many trials, and the CDC would not let something unsafe go out to as many vaccine users as we have had.  The ultimate take- away is to get the vaccine.  In my opinion if Pfizer or Moderna is available to you take one of those.  However, if Johnson and Johnson is the only vaccine available then the protection highly outweighs the minimal chance of a side effect.  It takes all of us to put a stop to this pandemic, and everyone is responsible for stopping the spread of COVID-19.