From Good Housekeeping
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AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the United Kingdom, India and Mexico.
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Unlike its competitors, AstraZeneca’s vaccine is a modified version of a cold virus that spreads among chimpanzees.
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It is the first vaccine of its kind approved for human use, but other companies are developing similar technologies to fight COVID-19.
The UK became the first country to approve AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on December 30, a few weeks after Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine candidates received a green light from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. The approval is another promising sign in the global vaccination – especially because this option, developed by the University of Oxford and the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, could be the key to reaching people in rural and underfunded areas.
Unlike its competitors, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can be stored at higher temperatures, costs less per dose, and uses different technologies to immunize humans. Although the vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the US, it could reach the arms state in early February, The New York Times reports. Here’s what we know so far about the vaccine, and how it relates to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s.
How does the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine work?
The AstraZeneca vaccine uses adenovirus technology. Translation: This is a harmless, adapted version of a cold virus that usually spreads only among chimpanzees. This altered virus may not make you sick, but it does contain a gene of the new coronavirus’ peak protein, the part of the virus that triggers an immune response. It enables the immune system to make antibodies that work against COVID-19, and teaches your body how to react if you become infected.
In other words, the AstraZeneca vaccine mimics a COVID-19 infection without its life-threatening side effects, per release of the company. The reason why researchers chose a chimpanzee adenovirus is simple: the modified virus must be new for the people who are vaccinated – otherwise the body will not create the most important antibodies. Anyone can already have antibodies to colds among humans, but far fewer people have been exposed to cold spread among chimpanzees.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, meanwhile, rely on mRNA technology, which essentially introduces a piece of genetic code that misleads the body into producing COVID-19 antibodies, requiring no virus. All three vaccines require two shots that are about a month apart. Although no vaccine previously approved for adenovirus vectors for human use, companies such as Johnson & Johnson, CanSino and NantKwest are all working on their own versions.
How does the AstraZeneca vaccine compare to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations?
Save and distribute
The AstraZeneca vaccine has so far been the easiest to transport – it can be stored for up to six months between 36 and 46 ° F, normal refrigerator temperatures. The Moderna and Pfizer options, meanwhile, need to be stored at temperatures below zero until ready to use, at -4 ° F and -94 ° F, respectively. (MRNA technology is relatively fragile compared to adenovirus vector technology , which means that it must be kept at much lower temperatures in order to remain effective and stable.)
The higher storage temperature of AstraZeneca can facilitate distribution. A clinic, a nursing home or even [regional] health departments may not have freezers that can keep things at -94 ° F, ”says Kawsar Talaat, MD, an infectious disease doctor, vaccine researcher and assistant professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins University. Being able to use a typical refrigerator allows time for distribution, allows the vaccine to reach more rural areas, [and allows vaccines] to be kept in a clinic for a longer period. ”
Cost
The new vaccine also beats its competitors by price: the AstraZeneca vaccine costs suppliers about $ 4 per dose, while Pfizer’s costs $ 20 and Moderna’s $ 33, reports Al Jazeera. These prices are likely to fluctuate as time goes on and the vaccines develop.
Efficiency
The two mRNA vaccines have a slight advantage in efficacy; both Pfizer and Moderna report that they are approximately 95% effective against COVID-19 after the second inclusion in clinical trials, while AstraZeneca has an average efficacy of 70% and up to 90% when dosed. (For comparison: according to the CDC, the annual flu shot is usually between 40 and 60% effective.)
Side effects
All three of the vaccines’ side effects are similar, including possible injection site pain and flu-like symptoms, including fever, fatigue, headache and muscle aches, which can be expected as your immune system prepares.
Which COVID-19 vaccine is the best?
There is no “best” vaccine option because there is not enough research yet to confirm this. Vaccinations are not a silver bullet, especially if the pandemic is raging: they must be combined with masks, hand washing and social distance to work as effectively as possible, according to the CDC. No matter which COVID-19 vaccine is available to you first, you can have confidence in the ability to protect yourself, as long as you remain careful until positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide are significantly reduced.
Meanwhile, it is likely “that all the manufacturers are working to make their vaccines more stable at better controllable temperatures,” explains dr. Talaat. As their wordings change, so will their pros and cons.
For now, we can be thankful that the vaccination of AstraZeneca is approved worldwide. “The next generation of vaccines, such as those from AstraZeneca, which are kept in refrigerators, are a big step forward,” says Dr. Talaat. ‘When you talk about spreading to the whole world, it’s much easier to do because we’re already keeping vaccinations cold. It’s much harder to keep things frozen. ”
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