TWV Podcast Episode 441: COVID-19 Vaccines Part 2 - Pfizer/BioNTech vs Moderna

This week on The Whole View, Stacy and I tackle part 2 of our covid-19 vaccine podcast episode series. After laying the groundwork last week on mRNA vaccine technology in the context of vaccine history, this week we dove into the safety and efficacy data on the first two approved covid-19 vaccines, both using the mRNA vaccine platform, from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. We talk about the similarities and differences between the two vaccines and dig into the data on side effects, adverse reactions, allergies, efficacy against infection, efficacy against severe disease, sub-group analysis and what it means for people with autoimmune disease, the implications of ongoing monitoring, the impact of the new strains (especially the UK strain and the South African strain), whether it’s a good idea to get the vaccine if you’ve already had covid-19, and what isn’t yet known.

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Citations

Xie X, Zou J, Fontes-Garfias CR, Xia H, Swanson KA, Cutler M, Cooper D, Menachery VD, Weaver S, Dormitzer PR, Shi PY. Neutralization of N501Y mutant SARS-CoV-2 by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited sera. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Jan 7:2021.01.07.425740. doi: 10.1101/2021.01.07.425740. PMID: 33442691; PMCID: PMC7805448.

Widge AT, Rouphael NG, Jackson LA, Anderson EJ, Roberts PC, Makhene M, Chappell JD, Denison MR, Stevens LJ, Pruijssers AJ, McDermott AB, Flach B, Lin BC, Doria-Rose NA, O’Dell S, Schmidt SD, Neuzil KM, Bennett H, Leav B, Makowski M, Albert J, Cross K, Edara VV, Floyd K, Suthar MS, Buchanan W, Luke CJ, Ledgerwood JE, Mascola JR, Graham BS, Beigel JH; mRNA-1273 Study Group. Durability of Responses after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 Vaccination. N Engl J Med. 2021 Jan 7;384(1):80-82. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2032195. Epub 2020 Dec 3. PMID: 33270381; PMCID: PMC7727324.