Recent news on vaccines has resurrected  many controversy about vaccines in general fuelled by anecdotal account of cures for Covid prematurely dismissing any prospect of  taking Covid-19 vaccines. But after all;

Science is a rational subject that requires a methodological approach and assessment.

To gather some truth, a degree of scrutiny of current information is better than active speculation. Analysing emerging solutions against covid-19 is useful in making informed decision about having the vaccine and remaining open to influx of evidence as scientists continue to make experimental breakthrough about ways of containing this Covid -19 virus that has indiscriminately claimed the lives of millions of people. The race for the vaccine was set on 2 December, when Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in the UK, becoming the first coronavirus vaccine to be authorised anywhere in the world, followed on 30 December by the approval of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and then in early january a third vaccine from Moderna. According to evidence on vaccine comparison information, four essential elements are important when assessing these vaccines. First the data collected or the clinical experiment, next the efficacy, then the effectiveness , then last but not least the safety. Let’s look at each of them separately.

1-Clinical trials or data collected

Moderna was the first biotech to take a COVID-19 vaccine into a phase 3 clinical trial and experimenting on at least 30,000 people whilst Pfizer carried out about 150 clinical trials in at least six countries resulting in studying 41,135 people of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 13, 2020. Pfizer had approximately 42% of global participants in about six countries and 30% of U.S. participants with racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and majority of U.S. participants were 56-85 years of age. Then the Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca which primary analysis for efficacy was based on 17,177 participants. It is important to say data mentioned here were released at stage three of the experiment and involved people with and without the virus. Data is key in conducting any study as it allows to measure the efficacy of the tested vaccine. So comparatively Pfizer had gathered a great number of diverse people.
 

2-Efficacy and effectiveness

The evidence says so far the Pfizer vaccine according to clinical trials (please refer to my previous article for more on clinical trials)has shown efficacy of 95% at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infection after two doses at 21 day interval. The vaccine appeared to be more or less equally protective across age groups and racial and ethnic groups.

The Moderna vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, after the second dose at 28 days interval. The vaccine’s efficacy appeared to be slightly lower in people 65 and older. In the race the AstraZeneca study ‘results demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 76% after a first dose, and a protection up to 82% 12 weeks after the second dose is received but remains effective at preventing severe cases of Covid-19. Experimental research suggests that a result above 90% effectiveness, even among a reduced number of patients in ongoing trials, is very satisfactory compared to other common vaccines. For example, the yearly influenza vaccine can reduce the risk of flu from around 40% to 60% depending influencing transmission factors. Therefore, these vaccines hold a great promise. Now safety is an encouraging factor is achieving great vaccine campaign. So just how safe is it?

3- Vaccine safety

It is all reassuring, the trusted NHS has confirmed that vaccines licensed for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Side effects of majority of people vary from headache, aching arm to moderate fever.
My experience of Pfizer vaccine is that it is safe, I only had an achy arm at the site of the injection and that disappeared after couple of days and i shall be quite happy to have the second dose. Although emerging evidence suggests the Oxford AstraZeneca seems less effective against the South African variant, it nonetheless remains useful for preventing severe cases.
So far according to evidence the winner in the race to fight Covid-19 is Pfizer with 95 % efficacy offering protection as lower as for 16-year-old. In conclusion any of these vaccines is important for protecting yourself and those around you.I believe the fight for this vaccine will only be over when the susceptible considerable majority of the population is vaccinated. For now, wearing your mask and socially distancing will still be the basics for reducing the R rate or the rate a single infected person will go on to infect others.

NB: Please note for completeness I advise to do your own research on terms or statements used on this article.