In order to develop effective vaccines as quickly as possible, the United States federal government launched a program with the goal of enabling research and development for several different vaccine approaches simultaneously for two key reasons:

• It was unlikely that all vaccine approaches would be proven effective.
• Some vaccine technologies require longer developmental timelines.

Learn more here.

The Moderna and Pfizer FDA-authorized vaccines use mRNA technology to boost your body’s immune response.

While COVID-19 may seem new to many of us, researchers have been studying coronaviruses for over 50 years. During this time, they’ve also been learning how mRNA technology can help develop effective vaccines. mRNA can be thought of as a set of instructions that tell your body’s cells how to make proteins.

• The mRNA vaccine tells your body to make a small, non-infective portion of the outer part of the COVID-19 virus particle called a “spike protein”.
• This trains your immune system to recognize the virus and your body responds by building antibodies.
• Later, if you are exposed to the real virus, these antibodies are then able to attack it and prevent you from getting sick. The antibodies’ ability to prevent sickness is what is meant when people say a vaccine provides immunity.

A key benefit of mRNA vaccines is that the process to develop them can be standardized and scaled up more efficiently than other methods, which has been especially important in our response to COVID-19.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a viral vector vaccine. Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells. For COVID-19 viral vector vaccines, the vector (not the virus that causes COVID-19, but a different, harmless virus) will enter a cell in our body and then use the cell’s machinery to produce a harmless piece of the virus that causes COVID-19. This piece is known as a spike protein and it is only found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The cell displays the spike protein on its surface, and our immune system recognizes it doesn’t belong there. This triggers our immune system to begin producing antibodies and activating other immune cells to fight off what it thinks is an infection.

At the end of the process, our bodies have learned how to protect us against future infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. The benefit is that we get this protection from a vaccine, without ever having to risk the serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19. Any temporary discomfort experienced after getting the vaccine is a natural part of the process and an indication that the vaccine is working.

There are two other vaccines that are currently in their Phase 3 large-scale clinical trials.

As of 4/23/21, the pause on the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine has been lifted.

All three vaccines have proven to be equally effective at preventing hospitalization and death related to COVID-19. While Moderna and Pfizer require two doses and strict cold storage requirements, the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine only requires one dose and can be kept in regular refrigerators (potentially making transportation and distribution easier). In U.S. trials, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 72% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 after one dose. The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective and the Moderna vaccine is 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses.

Learn more about the science and effectiveness of FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines here.

As of 4/23/21, the pause on the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine has been lifted.

Yes. Experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide in real-world conditions before determining when people can safely stop wearing masks and following other protective measures.

While FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines have proven to prevent vaccinated individuals from experiencing COVID-19, experts are also still determining whether vaccines will prevent the ability to spread the virus.

All FDA-authorized vaccines have been developed using decades of research and studied in large-scale clinical trials. They are held to the same safety and effectiveness standards as all other vaccines. Individuals are monitored after receiving the vaccine to further ensure safety. The CDC has recommended special considerations for some individuals with underlying conditions.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines. Learn more about underlying conditions.

Yes. There is not enough research yet to know whether your body’s natural immune response to having had COVID-19 will continue to protect you after you recover. In order to limit chances of reinfection, and to help ensure that we stop the spread of COVID-19, it’s important that everyone who is eligible gets the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.

It is possible to experience side effects after receiving a vaccine. The most common side effects include pain or swelling in the arm where you get the vaccine, body chills, fever, rash, tiredness or headache. Side effects may feel like flu and even affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. You can find tips on how to reduce pain or discomfort if you experience side effects here.

Please note: If you received a two-dose vaccine, some have reported experiencing more severe symptoms after their required second dose. With Moderna or Pfizer, you will need 2 shots for 94% effectiveness. Get the second shot even if you have side effects after the first shot, unless a vaccination provider or your doctor tells you not to get a second shot.

As of 4/23/21, the pause on the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine has been lifted.

Allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are not common, but can happen. You will be monitored for 15 minutes after you get your COVID-19 vaccine dose by a registered health care professional. If you get a COVID-19 vaccine and you think you might be having a severe allergic reaction after leaving the vaccination site, seek immediate medical care by calling 911. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and rare severe allergic reactions here.

FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines do not contain eggs, preservatives or latex.For a full list of ingredients, please see the fact sheets below:

• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
• Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
• Johnson & Johnson/Janssen

Herd immunity means that enough people in a community are protected from getting a disease because they’ve already had the disease, or they’ve been vaccinated. Experts do not yet know what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19; however, the CDC and other experts are actively studying this and will provide more information as it is available.

Pregnancy: While pregnant individuals may be eligible to get the vaccine it’s strongly recommended that you consult your doctor beforehand. At this time, there is limited data about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people who are pregnant. Based on how mRNA vaccines work (like Moderna & Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines), experts believe they are unlikely to pose a specific risk for people who are pregnant. However, the actual risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and her fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant women. Viral vector vaccines (like Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine) use a modified version of a different virus. Different vaccines that use the same viral vector have been given to pregnant people in all trimesters of pregnancy, including in a large-scale Ebola vaccination trial. No adverse pregnancy-related outcomes, including adverse outcomes that affected the infant, were associated with vaccination in these trials.

Breastfeeding: Yes, but you may want to consult your doctor. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized now are non-replicating vaccines, meaning they are able to create an immune response but do not reproduce inside host cells. Because non-replicating vaccines pose no risk for lactating people or their infants, COVID-19 vaccines are also thought to not be a risk to the breastfeeding infant. Therefore, lactating people may choose to be vaccinated. However, there is no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in lactating women or on the effects of these vaccines on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion at this time.

There are currently no FDA-authorized vaccines for use in individuals younger than 16 years of age at this time. As more research is completed, this may change. As of May 5, 2021, ZIKS Family Pharmacy is only administering the COVID-19 vaccines to individuals 16 years or older (the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine approved for ages 16 and 17). We will keep our page updated with the latest information.

Not at the time of injection. There are a few differences in administration: Moderna and Pfizer require two doses to be effective (administered 28 days for Moderna vs. 21 days for Pfizer) while Johnson & Johnson/Janssen only requires a single dose. For two-dose vaccines, ZIKS Family Pharmacy ensures customers receive the same type of vaccine at the correct interval when they are automatically scheduled for their second appointment.