It s March, and the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines are here well, sort of. Supply is definitely not meeting demand in most states, but at least we know the calvary is coming, according to Anthony Fauci, M.D., head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. If all goes as planned, all Americans will be eligible for a vaccine by May 1 (at the latest).
Back in December, the FDA granted emergency-use approval to both Pfizer’s and Moderna s vaccine candidates, giving them the official green light for distribution in the U.S. Both vaccines deploy a new scientific approach, the use of messenger RNA, or mRNA. A third vax candidate by Johnson & Johnson was approved on February 27, 2021. This vaccine uses a different type of technology from Pfizer s and Moderna s shots; it’s an adenovirus viral vector vaccine, delivered in a single shot (meaning your appointment process is one-and-done. Yay!).