Throughout the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on people all over the world. The virus has prevented some from working, seeing family and friends and carrying out day-to-day activities such as going to school. After being worked on and researched for months, vaccines have been produced to hopefully end the pandemic and allow people to resume normal activities. While some can’t wait to get the injection, others are skeptical whether the vaccine is trustable.   

Personally, I believe that vaccinations are extremely trustworthy and reliable. Each vaccine has gone through multiple sets of trials to determine how it will affect others. People may be skeptical about the vaccine since it was available to the public so quickly, but the vaccine clinical trials did not miss any steps and they are safe.   

There are currently a variety of vaccines in clinical trials, but the FDA has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. All the vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19 which will help to keep us safe. 

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been proven to be 95% effective in preventing the coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine is meant to be taken by people the age of 16 and older, with no vaccine so far approved for kids.  

The Moderna vaccine was also approved by the FDA and CDC. This vaccine has been proven to be 94% effective. This vaccine should be taken by people the age of 18 and up.  

Both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines use mRNA to instruct cells to begin building immunity to COVID-19. Both the vaccines are trustable and very similar.  

Even though there are side effects that come with each vaccine such as pain, swelling and redness, these are not detrimental side effects. Most vaccines come with negative side effects but the vaccine still does the job of protecting one’s body. 

The new COVID-19 vaccines are extremely reliable because each vaccine goes through a series of safety monitoring after they are approved for use. The CDC and FDA also ensure that the vaccine is working well.  

By taking the vaccine you are not only protecting oneself but also everyone else around them. Wearing masks and social distancing may help with minimizing the chance of contracting and transmitting the virus, but vaccines will work together with one’s system to fight COVID-19.