‘The lack of informed messaging from the Trump administration, combined with the range of different COVID vaccines, the emergence of new coronavirus variants, and inconsistent state and municipal rollout plans, have caused confusion and driven vaccine hesitancy. Scientific American asked Namandjé Bumpus, a pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, and Ashley Lauren St. John, an immunologist at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore to answer some of the biggest questions about the currently available COVID vaccines:
- Should you get an authorized COVID vaccine now if you are eligible?
- Should you get vaccinated if you have already had COVID?
- How should you interpret vaccine efficacy—what does “95 percent efficacy” or “66 percent efficacy” even mean?
- If you get the vaccine and still get infected, does the vaccine still make a difference?
- Will it prevent severe disease or death?
- Do the vaccines protect against the new virus variants, including those first identified in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil?
- What is the difference between mRNA and viral vector vaccines?
- Is there a “best” vaccine?
- Will the vaccine protect you from giving the virus to others?
- Will the vaccine’s effectiveness “wear off” over time?
- Should you be worried about allergic reactions to the vaccine?
- How can you ensure you’re getting a legitimate, authorized vaccine?
Read here (Scientific American, Feb 19, 2021)
