Week 21 - Yakov Wahnich - New COVID Vaccine

As mass vaccinations are commencing world wide, analysts have authorized 3 COVID-19 vaccines for distribution in the United States: Moderna, Pzifer, and Johnson & Johnson. So far, everything seems to be going well with those vaccines. 

Internationally, there are two other vaccines being utilized and distributed on a large scale: AstraZeneca and Novavax. For the latter vaccine brand, early results are promising and everything is going well but, for the former brand created at Oxford University, not so much. In the past few days, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been connected to a few cases of blood clots and one death. Even though no correlation has been proven, the EU and participating countries have suspended use of the vaccine as a precautionary measure while they investigate the issue. Fortunately, the AstraZeneca vaccine hasn’t been approved for US distribution, so we’re all good. For the 1 million UK residents already vaccinated with the AZ vaccine, almost no side effects have been reported, so it seems like an isolated issue. 

This vaccine scare reminded me how quickly our COVID situation can change. Between the virus and the economy, society is on very thin ice right now, and while my intention wasn’t to make this a bleak or alarming article, it’s just something to think about. I guess we just shouldn’t take things for granted right now, and I’m hoping this summer will be the beginning of the end for COVID-19 and change things for the better. What do you guys think about the vaccines?