Happy New Year! We survived one of the most difficult years in recent memory, and that alone is worth celebrating. What’s also worth celebrating is the fact that vaccines for COVID-19 are already being distributed across the U.S., which means we are one step closer to life returning to normal.
First to announce a viable vaccine was Pfizer, which reported last November that its candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants who had not previously been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to the company, protection against the virus is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a two-dose schedule. Moderna followed in December, with its own announcement of a two-dose vaccine that was also approved at the end of last year.