The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is recommended for people 16 years of age and older. People who have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction to some of the ingredients that make it up should not be vaccinated with this option. Some of the side effects that have been seen in patients are: Pain, swelling and redness in the arm that was injected and in the rest of the body: chills, tiredness and headache. These side effects usually appear within a day or two after getting vaccinated. They may resemble flu symptoms and may even affect your ability to perform daily activities, but they should go away within a few days. Based on evidence from clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 95% effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in people without evidence of prior infections. 
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is recommended for people 16 years of age and older. People who have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction to some of the ingredients that make it up should not be vaccinated with this option. Some of the side effects that have been seen in patients are: Pain, swelling and redness in the arm that was injected and in the rest of the body: chills, tiredness and headache. These side effects usually appear within a day or two after getting vaccinated. They may resemble flu symptoms and may even affect your ability to perform daily activities, but they should go away within a few days. Based on evidence from clinical trials, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 95% effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in people without evidence of prior infections. 
Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine
The Moderna vaccine is recommended for people 18 years of age and older. People who have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate, even if not severe, allergic reaction to some of the ingredients in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine should not be vaccinated. Like the Pfizer vaccine, some of the side effects that have been seen in patients are: Pain, swelling and redness in the arm that was injected and in the rest of the body: chills, tiredness and headache. Based on evidence from clinical trials, Moderna’s vaccine was shown to be 94.1% effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in people who received two doses and who had no evidence of prior infections. The vaccine appears to have a high level of effectiveness in clinical trials (efficacy) among people of different age categories, sex, race, and ethnicity, and among people with underlying conditions. Although few of the people who participated in the clinical trials had to be hospitalized, this happened less often in people who received the Moderna vaccine compared to people who received the saline placebo.
Other Vaccines
In addition to these two major vaccines that have been floated around the world, there are large-scale (phase 3) clinical trials underway or planned for three other COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, which are:
- AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine
- The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine
- The Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine
Vaccines need to be shown to be safe and effective through large clinical trials (phase III). Some large clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine candidates have reported encouraging preliminary results. Officials in each country decide whether to approve vaccines for use in the country and, based on WHO recommendations, develop policies on how they should be used. 
On the other hand, it is too early to know whether COVID-19 vaccines will provide long-term protection. More research is needed to answer that question. However, the available data are encouraging, suggesting that most people who recover from COVID-19 develop an immune response that offers at least some protection against a new infection, although we are still trying to determine the intensity and duration of that protection.
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