Coronavirus: Information & Resources

Vaccines expose us to pieces of either a bacteria or a virus, which causes our bodies to recognize a potential threat and to mount an immune response. The goal with a vaccine is to help the body prepare for an actual infection, so it is ready to rapidly and effectively eliminate the SARS-CoV-2 virus when exposed to it.

There are different types of vaccines. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are called messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. The mRNA in the vaccines carry genetic instructions which cells in the body use to make copies of viral proteins. Once your cells make those proteins, your immune system will make the antibodies that bind to the protein, disable the virus, and protect you from getting sick or as sick from this virus.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews all vaccines for safety before allowing them to be administered to the public. Additionally, The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of medical and public health experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also assesses the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

Clinical trials of the vaccines lead to an understanding of safety and effectiveness. With the two early vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, preliminary data suggests they are both about 95% effective. That means that under controlled conditions there were about 95 percent fewer cases of COVID-19 in the group of people who got the vaccine compared to the group of people who got the placebo.

With the two mRNA vaccines, it is estimated that immunity develops around two to three weeks after completing the second shot in the series, but each vaccine works a little differently and every individual responds a little differently.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are a two shot series, and it is important that an individual have both shots in order to confer immunity. 

Most of the COVID-19 vaccines currently in phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S. require two (2) consecutive shots, three or four weeks apart, for the vaccine series. Future COVID-19 vaccines may require only one shot. Currently, Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses in the vaccine series to be given three weeks apart.

If you are in a group that is currently eligible to receive the vaccine and you are not feeling well, it is recommended that you wait until you are feeling better to get the vaccine. If you have symptoms and/or signs of respiratory infection, evaluation and testing from health care resources in your community is recommended.