Hopefully you’ve heard the exciting news by now: Last week, both Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccines are about 95% effective! This is groundbreaking news that had changed the way that many physicians and public health professionals – including myself – think about these vaccines. But, you may be wondering what does “95% effective” really mean, both for the vaccines themselves and the pandemic? Read on for an explanation.
“How soon will a COVID-19 vaccine come out?” That’s one of the top questions I’ve been asked over the last several months. It’s usually followed with “Is it being rushed?” Unfortunately, the answer to the first question is still unclear. However, there are real, evidence-based reasons why and how scientists are achieving the seemingly-impossible: developing a vaccine against COVID-19 within months of the first identified cases. This post will discuss those reasons and whether the vaccine is being rushed.
Last week Johnson & Johnson announced that they were temporarily pausing their COVID-19 vaccine clinical studies in order to review and evaluate an unexpected illness in an individual participating in their study, less than 3 weeks after their Phase 3 study had started. Another COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, also had its clinical studies paused in July and September for similar reasons. Read on for my thoughts on what this may mean for potential COVID-19 vaccines and their safety.
October is here, and that means it’s the perfect time to get your flu shot if you haven’t gotten one already!
You may have some questions about flu shots during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, I’ll address frequently asked questions about the flu shot but if I miss your question, let me know in the comments!
If you’ve been following the news, then you may have heard conflicting information about how soon a COVID-19 vaccine will become available. Unfortunately, my crystal ball is hazy on that front, but I think it’s fair to say that whenever a COVID-19 vaccine or vaccines first come out, initial supplies will be limited and focused on front-line healthcare workers, other essential workers, and people at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection. It may be several months before we have widespread COVID-19 vaccine available, so keep wearing face masks and social distancing until then!
Although there are still a lot of questions about when COVID-19 vaccine will come out, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of which COVID-19 vaccines may be available. There are currently four U.S. COVID-19 vaccines in the third (and final) phase of clinical trials prior to approval. It’s important to keep in mind that not all vaccine candidates will necessarily be approved; the whole point of a clinical trial is to study whether a vaccine is safe and effective in as many populations as possible. This post summarizes the four vaccines that are currently farthest along, but it’s no guarantee that any of them will ultimately be approved.
If you’ve been following recent COVID-19 news, then you may have heard that one of the COVID-19 vaccine studies was paused last week in order to review an unexpected illness in one of the participants. While we all want the COVID-19 pandemic to end as soon as possible, I believe this pause is a very good sign that the COVID-19 vaccine researchers are behaving responsibly and with the public’s safety at heart. Read on for a summary of this story and what it does and doesn’t mean for the future of COVID-19 vaccines.
