DOS_patos
Unverified Legion of Trill member
Vaccines are on the horizon in the U.S., and distribution could potentially begin by mid-December.
Two companies – Pfizer and Moderna – have already applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for their two-shot vaccine candidates, and more companies are expected to apply in the coming months.
Meanwhile this week, the United Kingdom became the first Western country to approve the widespread use of Pfizer's vaccine, making it one of the first countries to begin vaccinating.
As vaccines are being produced in record time, what do we know about these shots? What are the side effects? Will you be immune? And will you have to take the vaccine once or every year?
We know you have questions, and we’re here to help. Ask us your vaccine questions through this online form, and we'll speak with public health experts to answer them below.
Here's what we know:
Is there a vaccine for the coronavirus? When will the COVID-19 vaccine be out?
There were more than 200 vaccine candidates under development as of last month, with 48 in clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization. Drug companies Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have the leading vaccine candidates. Pfizer is collaborating with German company BioNTech, and AstraZeneca is collaborating with Oxford University.
There are no authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. yet, but preparations for distribution are ramping up. Under FDA rules, a vaccine cannot be shipped to administration sites until it has been either licensed or authorized. Operation Warp Speed, the White House-led initiative to develop and distribute vaccines, plans to begin the first vaccine deliveries within 24 hours of FDA authorization.
The FDA is expected to authorize Pfizer's vaccine by mid-December. Charter flights bringing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to the United States from Belgium began Friday, the start of what the Federal Aviation Administration calls the first "mass air shipment" of a coronavirus vaccine.
Biotech company Moderna applied Monday for an emergency-use authorization from the FDA. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca/Oxford faced scrutiny over interim results from trials in the U.K. and Brazil, released last week, showing 60% effectiveness when its vaccine was given in two equal doses and 90% among a much smaller group that accidentally received a half-dose the first time.
Moderna said recently it will have 20 million doses available in the U.S. by the end of this calendar year and another 500 million to 1 billion next year. Pfizer has said it will have as much as 50 million doses of its vaccine manufactured by the end of this year, and another 1.3 billion next year.
Does China or Russia have a vaccine for COVID-19?
China and Russia have already begun a mass rollout of their own coronavirus vaccines. However, they have done so before completing late-stage clinical trials.
Russia became the first country to officially register a vaccine and declare it ready for use in mid-August, despite less than two months of human testing. President Vladimir Putin said at the time that the vaccine, developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, underwent the "necessary tests" and was given to one of his daughters.
On Wednesday, Putin ordered a "large-scale" immunization campaign to start by late next week, with doctors and teachers set to be first in line to get the Sputnik V vaccine, The Associated Press reported. Putin said more than 2 million doses of the vaccine had "been produced or will have been produced in the next few days."
In China, "almost 1 million people" have been given an experimental vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, the company's chairman told a Chinese news outlet in mid-November.
What are the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine? Are there long-term effects?
Most people who get a COVID-19 vaccine will endure side effects, particularly after a second dose. All three candidate vaccines reported mild or moderate side effects, mostly pain at the injection site, fatigue, and aching muscles and joints for a day or two.
"A sore arm and feeling crummy for a day or two is a lot better than COVID," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of health policy and of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
If someone is going to have a bad reaction to a vaccine, it is likely to occur in the first six weeks after vaccination, according to medical experts. But experts still don’t know the long-term effects of the vaccines and won’t know until after the trials are completed and researchers monitor participants in the real world for years after.
Two companies – Pfizer and Moderna – have already applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for their two-shot vaccine candidates, and more companies are expected to apply in the coming months.
Meanwhile this week, the United Kingdom became the first Western country to approve the widespread use of Pfizer's vaccine, making it one of the first countries to begin vaccinating.
As vaccines are being produced in record time, what do we know about these shots? What are the side effects? Will you be immune? And will you have to take the vaccine once or every year?
We know you have questions, and we’re here to help. Ask us your vaccine questions through this online form, and we'll speak with public health experts to answer them below.
Here's what we know:
Is there a vaccine for the coronavirus? When will the COVID-19 vaccine be out?
There were more than 200 vaccine candidates under development as of last month, with 48 in clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization. Drug companies Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have the leading vaccine candidates. Pfizer is collaborating with German company BioNTech, and AstraZeneca is collaborating with Oxford University.
There are no authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. yet, but preparations for distribution are ramping up. Under FDA rules, a vaccine cannot be shipped to administration sites until it has been either licensed or authorized. Operation Warp Speed, the White House-led initiative to develop and distribute vaccines, plans to begin the first vaccine deliveries within 24 hours of FDA authorization.
The FDA is expected to authorize Pfizer's vaccine by mid-December. Charter flights bringing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to the United States from Belgium began Friday, the start of what the Federal Aviation Administration calls the first "mass air shipment" of a coronavirus vaccine.
Biotech company Moderna applied Monday for an emergency-use authorization from the FDA. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca/Oxford faced scrutiny over interim results from trials in the U.K. and Brazil, released last week, showing 60% effectiveness when its vaccine was given in two equal doses and 90% among a much smaller group that accidentally received a half-dose the first time.
Moderna said recently it will have 20 million doses available in the U.S. by the end of this calendar year and another 500 million to 1 billion next year. Pfizer has said it will have as much as 50 million doses of its vaccine manufactured by the end of this year, and another 1.3 billion next year.
Does China or Russia have a vaccine for COVID-19?
China and Russia have already begun a mass rollout of their own coronavirus vaccines. However, they have done so before completing late-stage clinical trials.
Russia became the first country to officially register a vaccine and declare it ready for use in mid-August, despite less than two months of human testing. President Vladimir Putin said at the time that the vaccine, developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute, underwent the "necessary tests" and was given to one of his daughters.
On Wednesday, Putin ordered a "large-scale" immunization campaign to start by late next week, with doctors and teachers set to be first in line to get the Sputnik V vaccine, The Associated Press reported. Putin said more than 2 million doses of the vaccine had "been produced or will have been produced in the next few days."
In China, "almost 1 million people" have been given an experimental vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, the company's chairman told a Chinese news outlet in mid-November.
What are the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine? Are there long-term effects?
Most people who get a COVID-19 vaccine will endure side effects, particularly after a second dose. All three candidate vaccines reported mild or moderate side effects, mostly pain at the injection site, fatigue, and aching muscles and joints for a day or two.
"A sore arm and feeling crummy for a day or two is a lot better than COVID," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of health policy and of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
If someone is going to have a bad reaction to a vaccine, it is likely to occur in the first six weeks after vaccination, according to medical experts. But experts still don’t know the long-term effects of the vaccines and won’t know until after the trials are completed and researchers monitor participants in the real world for years after.