Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine: What’s the different from Pfizer vaccine?

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine: What’s the different from Pfizer vaccine?

Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine: What’s the different from Pfizer vaccine? US FDA experts support the emergency listing of the second COVID-19 vaccine. What is the difference between it and Pfizer vaccine?

On December 17, U.S. local time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel voted to support the start of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. A few hours later, senior FDA officials stated that they would quickly advance emergency use authorization. The FDA will also notify the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the “Operation Warp Speed” team to ensure that vaccine distribution is started as soon as possible.

A week ago, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine passed the FDA emergency use authorization and has been launched in the United States. Moderna’s vaccine will become the second vaccine to be launched in the United States. What is the difference between it and Pfizer vaccine?

According to the CNN website, Pfizer is a pharmaceutical “giant” with a long history, while Moderna is just a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. It was founded in 2010 and has never marketed a vaccine product, nor has it brought a product to the market. Into the clinical phase III. The company has cooperated with the National Institutes of Health to develop the MERS vaccine. When the new coronavirus genome sequence was announced on the Internet in 2020, the company started research on the new coronavirus vaccine.

This vaccine, named mRNA-1273, is the first vaccine funded by the US government. It is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Administration (BARDA) supports late-stage clinical trials and helps the company expand its manufacturing scale. On March 3, Moderna launched a clinical trial, and on July 27, it began a phase III clinical trial, and applied to the FDA for emergency use authorization on November 30.

How does the Moderna vaccine prevent infection?

Moderna’s vaccine and Pfizer vaccine are both mRNA vaccines. They can generate S spike protein on the surface of the virus in the body, and the immune system in the body can generate antibodies against this spike protein and form immune memory. Once exposed to the real virus, the immune system can quickly activate and kill the virus.

Is the Moderna vaccine effective?

The report shows that Moderna’s vaccine can effectively prevent infection and prevent infection from becoming severe. A total of 30,000 subjects participated in the trial, and a total of 15,000 in the placebo group, of which 185 were infected with the virus, 30 became severely ill, and 1 died. There were 15,000 people in the vaccination group, 11 of them were infected, and no one became severely ill. It is calculated that the effective rate of the vaccine is 94%, which is consistent with the 95% announced by Pfizer.

In a briefing issued by the FDA, Moderna stated that the human body successfully developed immunity against the new coronavirus 14 days after the second dose of vaccine was injected. The briefing also pointed out that the vaccine has a preventive effect on people of different ages, genders, races and ethnicities, including people with chronic diseases.

What is the difference between the two vaccines?

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar introduced that although the mechanism is similar, they have some key differences that make the Moderna vaccine more flexible in its use.

They are both mRNA vaccines, but their lipid delivery systems are different, so the storage and use characteristics of the two are different, and the most concerned is the “cold chain”. Pfizer’s vaccines need to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is more than 50 degrees Celsius lower than most vaccines, and can only be stored for five days under ordinary cold storage conditions. In order to distribute Pfizer vaccines, the CDC in the United States has developed a complex cold chain system for this purpose, including equipped with ultra-low temperature refrigerators, using a large amount of dry ice during transportation, and so on.

In contrast, the Moderna vaccine can be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, which is the freezing standard for household refrigerators, and can be stored for 30 days under refrigerated conditions. It is easier to manage and more accessible. Therefore, the main application scenario of Pfizer vaccine is in large hospitals or institutions with complete laboratory facilities, while Moderna vaccine can be vaccinated in small institutions such as pharmacies and community hospitals.

Both vaccines require two injections, the Moderna vaccine requires an interval of 28 days, and the Pfizer vaccine requires an interval of 21 days. Moderna is approved for people aged 18 and over, while Pfizer vaccine can also be used for people aged 16-17.

Is Moderna vaccine safe?

Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser of “Operation Warp Speed”, said that about 10%-15% of people will have “quite obvious side effects.”

The FDA briefing document pointed out that the vaccine is safe. The most common adverse reactions are pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain and chills. There are also reports of lymphadenopathy, which does not affect emergency use authorization.

When can it be injected?

The U.S. government has signed an agreement for 100 million doses of vaccines and purchased another 100 million doses last week. During the initiation of clinical trials, Moderna has already started production, and there are now more than 6 million doses. Once the vaccine is authorized for emergency use, shipment will begin within 24 hours. The vaccine will arrive at approximately 3,200 vaccination sites in the United States starting next Monday morning, exceeding Pfizer’s 636 vaccination sites.

Vaccines will be vaccinated in the U.S. state and local authorities according to the established order. The CDC vaccine consultant of the United States recommends that medical staff and residents of long-term care facilities give priority to vaccination.

(source:internet, reference only)

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