Vaccines

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…

A: Yes. We’ve been out to sea in a hellish storm. Yesterday, the faint dimmer of the lighthouse came into view. Pfizer has announced that early data from its pivotal vaccine trial looks good. So good, in fact, that this Nerdy Girl (Lindsey) cried upon reading the headline. TL;DR on the data read-out: There is Read more…

A: The earliest we can expect vaccines to be available is January, and they will be available to the most vulnerable populations first, with general public availability following by Spring 2021. But even with an effective vaccine, some social distancing measures are expected to be in place at least until the end of 2021, with Read more…

Q: Can you explain what is different about COVID-19 that we may so quickly have an effective vaccine if we still don’t have one for HIV/AIDS and other terrible diseases that have been around longer. What makes a vaccine for this virus easier to achieve? A: Scientists are hopeful because vaccines in development now are Read more…