Coronavirus Vaccine

Category: COVID-19 Comments: 0

Vaccines are now available for children as young as 5 years old. These vaccines are a third the dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which is authorized in those 12 and older. As in the adult version, the children’s version requires two does, take 3 weeks apart.

A two-dose Moderna vaccine is also approved for adults, as is a single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Top health experts have a preference for the type of vaccine that you choose. They recommend that you choose a vaccine made with mRNA (like the ones from Pfizer and Moderna) rather than the J&J vaccine, which is made differently. The recommendation is endorsed by the CDC and comes from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which reviewed the latest evidence on the effectiveness, safety, and rare side effects of the available vaccines.

That said, if you can’t get an mRNA vaccine or you don’t want to, you should definitely get the J&J vaccine. Receiving any COVID-19 vaccine is better than being unvaccinated, experts say.

Booster shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are recommended for everyone 18 years and older at least 6 months after you’ve gotten your first two doses. (Sixteen- and 17-year-olds who got their initial two doses from Pfizer are eligible to get the Pfizer booster, too.)

A J&J booster is recommended for those 18 years and older at least 2 months after receiving their original dose of the J&J vaccine.

If you’re 18 or older, you can get a booster dose of any of the COVID vaccines authorized in the U.S. That means you don’t have to stick with same the vaccine you initially got. For example, if your initial doses came from Moderna, you can get a booster dose from Pfizer.

But remember, teens 16 and 17 who got the Pfizer vaccine are allowed only to get a Pfizer booster shot.

COVID-19 vaccines were developed at an unprecedented speed, with testing in humans starting in March 2020. The FDA says that no corners were cut to allow for approval and that the inoculations are safe. The CDC has said it is safe for pregnant women and there’s no evidence that antibodies formed from COVID-19 vaccination cause any problem with pregnancy.

Coronavirus Treatment

There’s no specific treatment for COVID-19. People who get a mild case need care to ease their symptoms, like rest, fluids, and fever control. Take over-the-counter medicine for a sore throat, body aches, and fever. But don’t give aspirin to children or teens younger than 19.

You might have heard that you shouldn’t take ibuprofen to treat COVID-19 symptoms. But the National Institutes of Health says people who have the virus can use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminophen as usual.

Antibiotics won’t help because they treat bacteria, not viruses. If you hear about people with COVID-19 getting antibiotics, it’s for an infection that came along with the disease.

People with severe symptoms need to be cared for in the hospital.

The antiviral medication called remdesivir (Veklury) is the first medication to get FDA approval for treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Originally developed to treat Ebola, evidence shows that those treated with remdesivir recovered in about 11 days compared to 15 days for those treated with a placebo.

Many clinical trials are under way to explore treatments used for other conditions that could fight COVID-19 and to develop new ones.

For instance, trials are under way for tocilizumab, another medication used to treat autoimmune conditions. And the FDA is also allowing clinical trials and hospital use of blood plasma from people who’ve had COVID-19 and recovered to help others build immunity. You’ll hear this called convalescent plasma. Currently, evidence of its effectiveness is limited.

Early in the pandemic, the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were considered as possible treatments. The FDA later rescinded an emergency use order because studies found that the drugs were ineffective and the risks outweighed the benefits.

A variety of steroid medications are being used including dexamethasone which is used to treat conditions such as arthritis, blood/hormone/immune system disorders, allergic reactions,. More studies on effectiveness are still being conducted.

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