The Coronavirus has effectively broken our spine. Everything is practically halted and everyone is in destruction. Effectively 3,07,231 individuals have lost their lives because of this SARS infection. Even following 5 months of mass vaccination the chart isn’t actually diminishing. The circumstance is as yet unchanged. lakhs of people are infecting daily, a huge number of people dying every hour. As indicated by researchers, the stream might be going to diminish by the start of July.
In this article, we are going to discuss the top medicines available globally. So that you can later decide which covid vaccine is best for you. In India, there are only 3 available for now. There were only Covaxin and Covishield were available till April. In May, a Russian vaccine has been added to the list, which is more effective against the virus.
Table of Contents
Pfizer-BioNTech
This vaccine is co-developed by the USA(Pfizer) and Germany(Bio-NTech). Though this vaccine is not approved by the US FDA( Food and Drug Administration), it is still approved to use in emergencies for people above 12. It is basically an mRNA(Messenger Ribonucleic acid) based vaccine which is made by nucleoside modified mRNA. It is 2 rounds of vaccine 3 weeks apart. It shows an efficacy ratio of 90-94%.
There are some side effects encountered after consuming Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines like,
- Severe allergic reactions
- Non-severe allergic reactions such as rash, itching, hives, or swelling of the face
- Injection site pain
- Tiredness
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Chills
- Joint pain
- Fever
- Injection site swelling
- Injection site redness
- Nausea
- Feeling unwell
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Arm pain
Moderna
The second one on the list is Moderna. Which is also an mRNA-based vaccine. We need 2 shots of this 4 weeks apart. It shows the same efficacy rate as Pfizer which is 90-94%. This is developed by the US and it can be used for people over 18 years and older.
People with medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, pulmonary, liver, or kidney disease and chronic infections and people having severe disease can take this dose. Though this vaccine is not yet approved by WHO, it has passed all the tests by European Medicines Agency (EMA) and meets the criteria for SAGE( Strategic Advisory Group of Experts )’s consideration.
The most common side effects are
- soreness at the site of injection
- fatigue
- headache
- muscle aches
- chills
- joint pain
- fever
Janssen
The pharma giant Johnson & johnson announced on Jan, 29 their entry into the vaccine market by launching “Janssen”. The Janssen vaccine is a viral vector vaccine. It actually means it uses or type of virus which helps in increasing protein to work against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Janssen is unique in its class as it is been tested using a single dose whereas others are of 2 doses. This vaccine is appropriate for people over 18 age.
The most common side effects found with the Janssen are
- pain at the injection site
- headache
- flu
The FDA and CDC recommended a temporary pause on using this vaccine after founding few cases of minor side effects. This vaccine shows an efficacy of 70-85%.
AstraZeneca/Covishield
AstraZeneca, popularly known as Covishield in India is also a Viral vector-type vaccine that is made from modified Chimpanzee adenovirus. This vaccine is co-developed by UK and Sweden. There are 2 types of covishield released, one is from SKbio-Republic of Korea and another one from Serum Institute of India. The dosages are 2 doses 8-12 weeks apart.
WHO approved this vaccine to give all age groups over 18 including breastfeeding women. People may encounter normal to severe fever after taking the dose. The common symptoms are
- Feeling unwell
- A lump at the injected site
- Headache
- Joint or muscle pain
- Fever
The covishield shows efficacy of 70-90%.
Sputnik V
This one is also a Viral Vector type vaccine made from Modified Adenovirus developed by Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia. Of course, this one is the first vaccine to be authorized. Now it has been approved by 64 more countries including India. There are 2 shots to be taken in 3-13 weeks apart. This vaccine uses a modified kind of the virus that can’t be imitated and this has been embedded with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
It shows an efficacy rate of 85-92%. Based on the data the common side-effects are
- flu-like illness
- headache
- fatigue
- injection-site reactions
NovaVax
This protein-based Vaccine is also developed by the US. We need to consume two shots of this 4 weeks apart. It shows efficacy of 85-89%. The Side effects are the same as any other vaccine in its class.
Covaxin
India‘s First Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine proudly developed by Indian pharma company Bhratbiotech. This vaccine is developed by using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell. It is a 2-dose vaccination given 28 days apart. It shows an efficacy ratio of 70-80%.
Though there are side effects it is recommended to have vaccinated as soon as possible. The common side effects you may encounter are
- injection site pain
- headache
- fatigue
- fever
- body ache
- abdominal pain
- nausea and vomiting
- dizziness-giddiness
- tremor
- sweating
- cold, cough
So these are the best available medicine available globally. Apart from that, there are few more vaccine which ae under testing or yet to be approved.
NOTE: The efficacy ratio may vary from person to person. It completely depends on your immunity that how the vaccine is fruitfully adopted by your body.
Now you must have got some idea about “which covid vaccine is best“. For any queries please drop a comment below.