The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted people for three years, taking many lives. The outbreak arose due to the previously unknown SARS-CoV-2 virus, and its mutations led to new forms of the disease. The pandemic has imposed severe restrictions on the population’s life and presents a significant threat to health. Given the danger of the disease, medical specialists seek to develop and implement measures that will reduce the incidence of coronavirus, preventing infection in the population. Vaccines are an essential step in the development of collective immunity to disease. It usually takes several years to develop an effective drug, but in the current situation, scientists acted faster. As a result, there is a significant distrust of the vaccines created. Despite concerns about vaccines’ safety and side effects, studies demonstrate their high efficacy and minor to moderate adverse effects.
The debate about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been ongoing since their introduction. Studies demonstrate that vaccines from different manufacturers have diverse efficacy and side effects. According to Rahman et al. (2022), the four most well-known vaccines include the following:
- BNT162b2, created by BioNTech and Pfizer, has an efficiency of 95% after two doses. Side effects of the medication are pain at the injection arm, fatigue, headache, chills, and muscle and joint pain. At the same time, additional checks report that the vaccine can lead to heart inflammation and Bell’s palsy.
- mRNA-1273, known as Moderna, is effective on 94% and also leads to side effects of fatigue, enlarged lymph nodes, and pain at the injection site, in muscles, joints, and head. Some participants reported fever and nausea, and checks also revealed the likelihood of heart inflammation.
- ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 from AstraZeneca has 70% efficiency with side effects of fever, pain, and nausea in mild manifestation. This vaccine also showed a rare side effect – the risk of thrombosis.
- Ad26.COV2.S developed by Johnson & Johnson results are 67% with adverse reactions similar to other vaccines – fatigue, pain, and nausea.
Thus, the outbreak of coronavirus brought many dangers and threats. The difficulty of the situation prompted specialists to accelerate the creation of vaccines against the virus. They are necessary to create collective immunity, but there is a distrust of them in society. However, studies demonstrate the high efficacy of approved vaccines with moderate or minor manifestations of side effects. At the same time, the risk of a more profound adverse impact is negligible.
Reference
Rahman, M., Masum, M., Ullah, H., Wajed, S., & Talukder, A. (2022). A comprehensive review on COVID-19 vaccines: Development, effectiveness, adverse effects, distribution and challenges. Virusdisease, 33(1), 1-22. Web.