- COVID-19 has been successfully prevented with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
- Researchers looked at the differences in effectiveness between the two vaccines in a recent study.
- They discovered that patients who received two doses of the Moderna vaccination were less likely than those who received the Pfizer vaccine to develop COVID-19 or be hospitalized with the illness.
The COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer are messenger
ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines, a relatively new form of vaccine technology.
COVID-19 vaccines work by giving our cells instructions on making
a SARS-CoV-2 protein. Our immune system reacts to these proteins and creates
the necessary tools to deal with any future virus infection.
The CDC's scientists discovered that both the Moderna and Pfizer
vaccinations are pretty successful at protecting patients from COVID-19.
"Accumulating evidence indicates mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations
are effective and should prevent most infections," said CDC Director Dr.
Rochelle P. Walensky. "Fully vaccinated people who have COVID-19 have a
milder, shorter illness and appear to be less prone to transfer the virus to
others," she says.
“These benefits are another important reason to get vaccinated.”
89 million people
Researchers looked into the differences in rates of
"breakthrough" cases of COVID-19 among people who received the
Moderna or Pfizer vaccines in the most recent study. When the disease arises in
someone who has been fully vaccinated against it, it is called a breakthrough
case.
The researchers also looked for any differences in
COVID-19-related hospitalization and death rates among those who received
either vaccine.
The researchers used health records from 89 million people in the
United States to conduct their research. People with a wide range of
demographic characteristics were included in the data.
The researchers looked at data from July to November 2021, when
the Delta variant of COVID-19 was the virus's main variant.
The findings were published in JAMA as a research letter.
Lower risk with Moderna
The researchers have found that in November 2021, there were 2.8
COVID-19 breakthrough cases per 1,000 patients who were fully immunized with
the Pfizer vaccine. If persons had not got the booster vaccination or had not
previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2, they were termed breakthrough cases.
The monthly rate for the Moderna vaccination was significantly
lower, at 1.6 cases of breakthrough per 1,000 people who received the
vaccination.
People who were fully immunized with the Moderna vaccine had a
lower risk of hospitalization in the 60 days following infection: 12.7 percent
versus 13.3 percent for Pfizer.
According to the researchers, there was no noticeable difference
in mortality rates between the two immunization groups.
Doctor Rong Xu of Case Western Reserve University School of
Medicine and the corresponding author of a recent study was interviewed.
"We compared vaccine recipients while accounting for patient
risk factors, various approval time, and varying time following
vaccination," Dr. Xu said.
"I believe that the inherent differences between these two
vaccines contributed to the observed differences in both breakthrough infection
and hospitalization."
According to Dr. Xu, both vaccinations would continue to be
effective against the Omicron type of SARS-CoV-2.
"Based on research showing that vaccinations can elicit T
cell immunity, which may offer protection against Omicron variant infections, I
believe we can expect vaccines to be successful against severe clinical
outcomes linked with Omicron variant infections." "We'll do a similar
trial with Omicron for [SARS-CoV-2] infection," Dr. Xu stated.
"Although there is a difference in breakthrough infections,
both vaccines are highly protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection and especially
against the most severe consequences of infection," says Dr. Pamela B.
Davis, the Arline and Curtis Garvin research professor at the Center for
Community Health Integration and a co-author of the study.
"More research is needed to assess the results of booster doses as well as the protection provided by vaccines to particularly vulnerable populations."
