Three COVID-19 vaccines – from Pfizer / BioNtech, Moderna and Oxford / AstraZeneca – appear to be the most common for Europeans.
Although they all have the same objective, there are substantial differences between jabs, from their composition and reported effectiveness to their price and ease of conservation and distribution.
Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna
The Pfizer vaccine, like the Moderna vaccine, uses innovative messenger RNA technology. In short, this technology teaches our cells to produce a protein, which is what makes the immune system react.
It is claimed that its efficiency in combating COVID-19, up to 95%, is greater than that of AstraZeneca.
Both, however, are more expensive.
The major disadvantage of the Pfizer jab is that it needs to be stored in the extreme cold, at temperatures as low as -70C to -80C. Moderna can remain stable for 30 days at a temperature between 2C and 8C, but for longer periods it will have to be frozen at -20C.
Oxford / AstraZeneca
Compared with Pfizer and Moderna, the AstraZeneca jab uses a more traditional vaccine technique, using an attenuated version of the virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees.
This virus has been genetically altered with a gene for a coronavirus protein to trigger the body’s immune reaction.
Its efficiency rate is about 70% lower. But, under certain conditions, this can reach 90%.
But it is much cheaper and easier to store than the Pfizer vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine can survive in a standard refrigerator for up to six months, while Pfizer needs temperatures down to -80 ℃.
Are other vaccines on the way?
The European Union has already purchased tens of millions of these three vaccines. But they are not the only candidates – others are being developed by Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi. There are also jabs developed in China and Russia.
See the complete comparison in the video player above.