10 Things You Really Should Know About The New COVID-19 Vaccine
How does the new AstraZeneca vaccine work?
Understanding how a vaccine works is key to establishing its effectiveness rate. Much like the other vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, this one is also administered in two doses scheduled about 2-3 weeks apart from each other.
Basically, the vaccine is based on a weakened version of the adenovirus from chimpanzees, which is a common cold virus. Specialists have altered the virus to look similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
When this vaccine is injected, the immune system uses it to learn how to fight COVID-19 in case of infection.
Nobody who has received the vaccine so far didn’t develop any COVID-19 complications or required treatment. Therefore, doctors consider that the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective and safe.
There’s a second perk to it too, as this new vaccine can be stored in normal refrigerators, thus making transportation and administration much easier. By comparison, the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at a temperature of -94°F (-70°C), which has been posing many challenges in terms of distribution.
