Inside the COVID-19 Vaccine
March 21, 2022
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that emerged in December 2019.” Since the beginning of COVID-19, millions of people have passed away due to the virus, and much of the world found themselves quarantined inside their homes for many months. As the world adapted and tried to stay safe from the dangerous virus, with students turning to virtual school and many people beginning to work from home, medical professionals realized they needed to act fast to figure out a way to keep people safe from disease, as this new way of life could not last forever. People wanted to return to normal life as it had been before the pandemic, but were worried about how to go about doing so in fear of contracting a deadly virus. As a result, scientists worked to develop a vaccine, and, after many months of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, they emerged with a number of vaccines that were approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2021.
There are two main variations of the COVID-19 vaccine that, while they achieve the same goal, are processed by different manufacturers and require different qualifications for recipients.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the vaccine produced by the pharmaceutical industry company known as Pfizer, was originally approved for people ages 16 years and older. It requires recipients of the vaccine to receive two doses, spaced twenty-one days apart for best results. It is an mRNA vaccine, otherwise known as a messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine, and contains a combination of lipids, salts, and sugars. The vaccine contains no live strain of the COVID-19 virus.
Lipids are, in basic terms, a fat cell. Inside the vaccine are nanolipids, which essentially means “tiny fat molecules” (Connecticut Department of Public Health). These fat molecules provide protection to the mRNA inside the vaccine, through their greasy, slippery exterior. They coat the mRNA, lubricating it and allowing for an easier transfer inside the cells of the human body and ultimately achieve its job at protecting the body from the virus.
The salts inside the vaccine ensure that the body’s acidity following the vaccination is maintained at a healthy level. It assists in preventing a number of possible adverse side effects of the vaccine that may have occurred as a result of an imbalance within the body’s acidity levels. Some salts inside include sodium chloride (commonly known as table salt!) and potassium phosphate.
As for the sugars, the primary example of such found inside the vaccine is simply sucrose - the same stuff that makes cakes, cookies, and your grandmother’s famous carrot cake so delicious. However, the sugar inside the COVID-19 vaccine certainly isn’t making it taste yummy; instead, it “helps the molecules maintain their shape during freezing” (Connecticut Department of Health).
The other type of COVID-19 vaccine was created by a biotechnology company known as Moderna. This vaccine was originally approved for people ages 18 years and older, and requires a slightly different dosage period than its counterpart over at Pfizer. People who receive the Moderna vaccine get two doses, spaced twenty-eight days apart.
The Moderna vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine, and is composed of lipids, acids, salts, sugars, and acid stabilizers. The composition of the Modern vaccine is extremely similar to Pfizer vaccine, and accomplishes the same goals.
Neither of the vaccines contain any traces of eggs, latex, or preservatives, and are deemed safe for those with allergies or sensitivities to the aforementioned ingredients. Most individuals that received both doses of the vaccines are eligible for a booster shot “at least five months after the final dose in the primary series” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).