Vaccines

A: Those who have had COVID19 are recommended to receive the vaccine. Data from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials demonstrated safety in participants that have had COVID19 previously. Scientists are hopeful that the vaccine will offer a higher level of protection than immunity to natural infection. Although the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine excluded participants Read more…

A: Healthcare workers and people in long-term care facilities are starting to get the Covid19 vaccine this week. As vaccine supplies improve, more folks will start to get vaccinated in the coming weeks and months. While safety data from the clinical trials is very good, safety monitoring is ongoing and appropriately a priority. Several existing Read more…

Today, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the first COVID-19 vaccine! The ACIP met to review and make recommendations on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which was given emergency use authorization by the FDA last night. You can read all the information presented at the ACIP meeting (see the link at the bottom). Read more…

A: It’s a big process with lots of steps and players! These include clinical development and testing, review by the FDA, review by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, distribution to communities, and finally, vaccination. Let’s run down the process. The Covid vaccine is on the horizon! Hooray! The FDA is meeting TODAY (watch it Read more…

A: The most common side effects of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines–the two closest to FDA approval–include sore arm, muscle aches, fatigue, and headache. These side effects are signs that your immune system is working. This post will focus on the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines because they are the furthest along in development, have safety Read more…

A: mRNA vaccines contain a message which instructs your cells to make a protein shaped like a small part of the virus. This does not affect your DNA, and it happens temporarily and locally at the injection site. In your body, your DNA makes messenger RNA to make proteins. Your DNA has all the information Read more…

A: More good news! While efficacy was not as high as that reported in the recent Pfizer and Moderna trials, this vaccine has some important advantages with regard to cost and ease of storage. But as with much of the recent “science by press release,” we’ll be anxiously awaiting further details. For the 3rd Monday Read more…

Q: Ok, you convinced me, the vaccine news is good. Yay! But: When do I get my first dose!? Will I be prioritized if vaccine supply is limited? A: Vaccine supply will be limited at first to high-priority groups. The rest of us should be getting vaccine “in arm” starting in the spring and extending Read more…

Answer: There are a lot of reasons why vaccines are preferable to natural immunity (besides not getting sick!). Vaccines have immune enhancing strategies including: delivery of a uniform dose of immune stimulus, two injections and/ or use of an adjuvant (immune enhancer). You may have seen the recent publication profiled in the NY Times that Read more…

A: Another Monday, another ray of light breaking through the COVID-19 storm cloud. The news is good, but we must still BE PATIENT and HUNKER DOWN for the winter. Fresh on the heels of the happy Pfizer/BioNTech news from last week, Moderna announced an efficacy of *94.5%* in the first look at data from the Read more…