{"id":96621,"date":"2021-06-08T13:55:36","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T18:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=96621"},"modified":"2021-06-08T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T18:55:36","slug":"coronavirus-vaccines-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus vaccines explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Grace Rodgers\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Coronavirus Vaccines Explained\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/559299645?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe\u2019re finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we have to allow ourselves to get there,\u201d said Dr. Lewis Nelson, the chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since January, new reported cases of COVID-19 have steadily declined across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#datatracker-home\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> COVID-19 Data Tracker<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The decline is in-part thanks to the introduction and success of emerging vaccines. In the beginning of June,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#vaccinations\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the CDC reported roughly 40%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Vaccines have been around for decades. One of the earliest successful vaccines was to treat smallpox. In 1796, Dr. Edward Jenner developed the vaccine by inoculating a patient with a related virus, cowpox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response to the vaccine, the patient\u2019s body created antibodies, our body\u2019s cells that attack disease invaders. The antibodies created against cowpox ultimately recognized and destroyed the smallpox virus. Even though the patient wasn\u2019t treated with the smallpox virus, doctors learned that the human body could create antibodies against a virus through the inoculation of a less harmful one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Knowledge learned through Dr. Jenner\u2019s discovery still applies today and remains particularly relevant amidst the coronavirus pandemic. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-96626 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-1536x861.png 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.08.51-PM-2048x1148.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Proper vaccine storage and monitoring practices play an essential role in safeguarding the health and safety of communities from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Videvo)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do COVID-19 vaccines work?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Vaccines introduce genetic material into the body with instructions to produce the coronavirus\u2019 signature \u201cspike protein,\u201d the part of the virus that latches onto human cells. Once an immune response develops after vaccination, the spike protein is then recognized as a foreign invader, which triggers the immune system to respond with antibodies that neutralize the protein.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0During this process, some cells that were involved in the immune response become what are called \u201cmemory cells.\u201d If the coronavirus ever returns, those memory cells recognize the spike protein and initiate a variety of stronger and faster responses. In the end, the vaccine is able to prime an individual\u2019s immune system into identifying and responding to the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0This concept is similar across the three vaccines FDA-approved for emergency use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson &amp; Johnson. In short, the three vaccines achieve the same type of immune response, but the genetic material and carrier are slightly different.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0So far, experts have used two different approaches to develop COVID-19 vaccines: an mRNA vaccine and a viral vector vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0mRNA Vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Pfizer and Moderna vaccines function the same, using a new technique that injects isolated, noninfectious genetic material into the body.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The vaccine is essentially a synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule encapsulated in a fatty droplet, known as a lipid nanoparticle, which helps get the genetic material into the body. The mRNA then delivers its instructions to the body\u2019s cells on how to make copies of the coronavirus\u2019 spike protein.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019re getting a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, you\u2019re not getting really anything but the message necessary for making the spike protein,\u201d said Dr. Jim Rago, a biology professor at Lewis University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Once copied, the body\u2019s cells recognize the spike protein, and the immune system responds with antibodies to neutralize the protein. The response is stored in some immune cells\u2019 memory. If the host comes in contact with the coronavirus, the body\u2019s cells will recognize the spike protein and neutralize the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showed success in initial trials, ranking in the 90th percentile on efficacy, an estimate to predict the number of people protected from contracting the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Pfizer vaccine is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pfizer.com\/news\/press-release\/press-release-detail\/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-publication-results-landmark\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 95% effective<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in preventing COVID-19 in those without prior infection and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pfizer.com\/news\/press-release\/press-release-detail\/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">100% effective<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in preventing severe disease as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Back in December, Pfizer became the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive an Emergency Use Authorization by FDA following news of the company\u2019s successful clinical trial data. Today, the Pfizer vaccine is being distributed across the country as a two-dose vaccine, with 21 days between the first and second shots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0The Moderna vaccine was the second COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use by the FDA &#8212; about one week after Pfizer. Functioning as a two-dose vaccine with 28 days between each shot, the Moderna vaccine is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/vaccines\/different-vaccines\/Moderna.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 94.1% effective<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at preventing COVID-19 in those without prior infection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0Viral Vector Vaccine: Johnson &amp; Johnson<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Johnson &amp; Johnson functions as a viral vector vaccine, using a pre-existing, benign virus to carry the genetic material into the body. Biochemists engineered this innocuous virus to act as a shell carrying, protecting and delivering the genetic material into the body.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u201cInstead of taking the piece of RNA, putting it in a little lipid sphere and putting that into your cells, you&#8217;re actually giving the person a virus that has that spike protein message in it,\u201d said Dr. Rago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Another aspect that\u2019s different in a viral vector vaccine is its genetic material. The viral vector vaccine uses a DNA molecule, which then encodes RNA instructions to produce the coronavirus\u2019 spike protein. Once produced, the spike protein triggers the immune system to respond with antibodies that neutralize the protein.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Similar to Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, memory cells store this response. If the host comes in contact with coronavirus, memory cells will be able to recognize the spike protein and neutralize the coronavirus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0In February of this year, the FDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization for Johnson and Johnson, making it the third COVID-19 vaccine available in the United States. The one-shot vaccine is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jnj.com\/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-authorized-by-u-s-fda-for-emergency-usefirst-single-shot-vaccine-in-fight-against-global-pandemic\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 72% effective<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at preventing COVID-19 and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jnj.com\/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-authorized-by-u-s-fda-for-emergency-usefirst-single-shot-vaccine-in-fight-against-global-pandemic\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> 86% effective<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at preventing severe illness and death from the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-96624 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-1024x572.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-1536x858.png 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.04-PM-2048x1144.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i>None of the COVID-19 vaccines FDA-approved for emergency use contain the live virus that causes the coronavirus, meaning a vaccine cannot make people sick with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\u00a0 (Videvo)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>\u00a0<\/i>Is one type of vaccine better?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u201cThe first vaccine you can get is the best vaccine you can get,\u201d said Dr. H. Dirk Sostman, the President of Houston Methodist Academic Institute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Most experts agree there is not enough conclusive evidence to support the idea that one vaccine is better than another. All three vaccines approved for FDA emergency use provide similar protection against severe COVID-19 hospitalization and death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u201cPeople come to a bunch of conclusions that probably are not warranted, but you can understand why they might. They\u2019re new technologies. They&#8217;re a little complicated to explain and understand,\u201d said Dr. Sostman. \u201cBut the actual efficacy of these vaccines is pretty similar. So, the sooner you can get any one of these vaccines, the better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0Can you still spread COVID-19 after vaccination?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0So far, there is no conclusive evidence that the three FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines can completely stop people from infection or transmission of the virus, meaning it is still essential for people to wear masks and social distance. However,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/coronavirus-and-covid-19\/covid-19-vaccines\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> preliminary research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> suggests fully vaccinated people reduce their risk of COVID-related hospitalization by 94% &#8212; a notably high effectiveness compared to other vaccines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0According to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/vaccines\/fully-vaccinated.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the Center of Disease Control and Prevention<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their final vaccine dose &#8212; two weeks after the first dose of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine, or two weeks after the second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/nejmc2103916\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Immunity lasts at least six months<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine, but experts don\u2019t yet know the scale of long-term immunity COVID-19 vaccines offer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0Still, there will always be a spectrum of immunity to coronavirus infection. Experts suggest populations could achieve herd immunity over time, which occurs when a high enough percentage of the population is immune to the coronavirus, making it difficult for the virus to spread. The United States is moving closer to achieving that threshold, and vaccines will play an essential role in increasing overall population immunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0\u201cLook at it from COVID\u2019s perspective. The more people that are protected, the fewer potential homes it has. And the fewer homes it has, the fewer viruses there will be on the planet. And the fewer viruses there are, the lower the chances are for mutations and variants to pop about,\u201d said Dr. Rago. \u201cSo the more people you have protected in the population, the more protection everybody gets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-96625 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-1024x573.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-1536x860.png 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.02.39-PM-2048x1146.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i>On May 13, 2021, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing outdoors and in most indoor settings. (Videvo)<\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong>Will COVID-19 go away with vaccines?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0In 1918, there was another pandemic known as the Spanish flu. Just as \u2018Sars-CoV-2\u2019 is the name of the virus that causes the coronavirus, H1N1 is the name of the virus that caused the Spanish flu. The H1H1 virus spread fast, causing roughly 50 million deaths worldwide at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0However, the virus itself has<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3507676\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> changed over time<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, causing less damage and deaths. Part of the reason it causes less damage is because populations are always exposed to the virus, so individuals build immunity. Plus, people receive annual flu vaccines, which effectively boosts immunity and reduces the spread of the virus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sars-CoV-2 was so destructive initially because there was no immunity among the population. And since then,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/new-coronavirus-variants-explained\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the coronavirus has evolved with the emergence of new coronavirus variants<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, including the B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 lineage. So far, none of the variants appear to have escaped the antibodies, meaning the spike protein hasn\u2019t changed enough to render the vaccines ineffective. Plus, through social distancing, mask-wearing, disinfecting and now vaccine distribution, populations have been able to build immunity and new cases have declined.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Experts speculate the coronavirus will evolve in a similar way to the H1N1 virus. It will take time to get there. But if we work together, we can get closer to reaching the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Grace Rodgers is health, environment and science reporter at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gracelizrodgers\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">@gracelizrodgers<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Grace Rodgers\u00a0 Medill Reports \u201cWe\u2019re finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we have to allow ourselves to get there,\u201d said Dr. Lewis Nelson, the chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital. Since January, new reported cases of COVID-19 have steadily declined across the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709,"featured_media":96623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2020"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Coronavirus vaccines explained - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coronavirus vaccines explained - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Grace Rodgers\u00a0 Medill Reports \u201cWe\u2019re finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we have to allow ourselves to get there,\u201d said Dr. Lewis Nelson, the chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital. Since January, new reported cases of COVID-19 have steadily declined across the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-08T18:55:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.01.04-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2834\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gracerodgers2021\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gracelizrodgers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"gracerodgers2021\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/\",\"name\":\"Coronavirus vaccines explained - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.01.04-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-08T18:55:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/895b3f87eacdac5b7927847b230e4ab6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.01.04-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-04-at-6.01.04-PM.png\",\"width\":2834,\"height\":1592,\"caption\":\"The three vaccines are FDA-approved for emergency use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson &amp; Johnson. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clinical trials are in progress or being planned for two additional COVID-19 vaccines: AstraZeneca and Novavaz. 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I'm Grace Rodgers, a graduate student and Comer Scholar at Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, specializing in health, science and environment. This past May, I (virtually) graduated from American University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. As a multimedia-focused journalist, I cover breaking news and investigative reports focused on environmental health, science, and justice.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.gracerodgers.com\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gracerodgers\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gracelizrodgers\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/gracerodgers2021\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Coronavirus vaccines explained - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/coronavirus-vaccines-explained\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Coronavirus vaccines explained - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Grace Rodgers\u00a0 Medill Reports \u201cWe\u2019re finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and we have to allow ourselves to get there,\u201d said Dr. Lewis Nelson, the chair of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital. 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