The COVID-19 vaccine has been out for quite some time now, but that may not mean what you think. It doesn’t mean that social distancing and COVID-19 are going to end immediately or anytime soon. It’s important to look at the information to help see how the COVID-19 vaccine will affect everyone’s lives. 

There are two different vaccines being distributed, each produced by a different company. One of the vaccines was produced by Pfizer and the other was produced by Moderna. Each of them requires a booster shot after a short period from initially getting the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine requires that people get a booster shot 21 days after you get the first dose. Moderna requires that people get a booster shot 28 days after their first dose. The vaccine begins to work as soon as you get the booster shot. Each of the vaccines are similarly effective at preventing COVID-19. The Moderna vaccine is 94.1% effective at preventing COVID-19 and the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective. 

Many people may not be aware of it, but each of the vaccines have age limits. Pfizer requires people who use the vaccine to be 16 years old or older. The Modern vaccine is approved to be used by people who are 18 or older. It is likely that another vaccine will be produced for kids and young teens, but for now people from ages 1-15 have no vaccine they are allowed to take. 

The Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine each have similar symptoms. After getting the COVID-19 vaccine, you can expect some flu and cold symptoms such as having chills, having a fever, tiredness, and experiencing a headache. You can also expect pain or swelling where you got the shot. Not everyone who gets the vaccine suffers from these symptoms and not everyone experiences them for the same amount of time. The longest someone should experience these symptoms is three days after getting the vaccine. If you get the vaccine you may want to take some time off work or school just in case you do have these symptoms. 

The thing you are probably wondering most is when you are going to be able to get the vaccine. At the moment, only high risk people and essential workers can get it. People are considered high risk if they are over the age of 60 or if they have a condition that could make COVID-19 severe for them. Essential workers include healthcare workers, teachers, convenience store workers, food service workers, pharmaceutical workers, energy workers, etc. A lot of health workers and high-risk people have already been administered the vaccine. Right now they are still in the process of administering the vaccine to other essential workers and the rest of the people who are at a high risk. 

It is likely that the vaccine will begin to be administered to the majority of people within a couple of months. After that, it will take quite some time before we are able to get herd immunity. Herd immunity is when the majority of a population is immune to a disease and that means that anyone who isn’t immune has a small likelihood of getting it. In order to achieve herd immunity 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated; that is around 248 million people in the United States.