There’s good news about coronavirus vaccines. At least three of the experimental vaccines show remarkable efficacy, at least according to information released by the makers in news releases.
Global vaccine giant AstraZeneca reports its vaccine prevented coronavirus infection 62% of the time when people got two doses a month apart. But in a subgroup of volunteers who got a half dose followed by a full dose a month later, the vaccine appeared to be 90% effective.
That averages out to 70% efficacy. The vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and biotechnology company Moderna appear to protect against symptomatic infection 95% of the time.
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines use very similar technology, while AstraZeneca uses a different approach. They are among six vaccines getting some kind of federal government support in the United States and dozens in development around the world.
Here’s a look at some of the candidates that are the furthest along in development — mostly in Phase 3 clinical trials, the last step before seeking the go-ahead from the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulators around the world.
1, Pfizer and its German-based partner BioNTech
2, Moderna
3, AstraZeneca, made with a team at Britain’s Oxford University
4, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine arm Janssen Pharmaceuticals
5, Maryland-based biotechnology company Novavax
6, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline
7, Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm
8, Russia’s Sputnik V
I – Word Understanding
Efficacy – the power to produce an effect
Symptomatic – having the characteristics of a particular disease
Go-ahead – approval / signal to proceed
II – Have Your Say
1, Are you looking forward to getting a Covid-19 vaccine? What do you feel about this vaccine and vaccines in general?
2, What is your government’s plan regarding Covid-19 vaccination? How much would it cost (is it free for everyone)? Who gets the vaccine first? Do you agree with this plan?
3, WHO Chief warned “Vaccine won’t end Covid-19 pandemic” and that we still need to continue other pandemic fighting tools. What do you think will happen when we finally get the vaccine? Do you think we could go back to the “old” normal? What would be the “new” normal post Covid-19?
784 Here’s a look at how the different coronavirus vaccines work
