So far, there have been two different companies who have come forward with a COVID vaccine. Both Moderna and Pfizer have both come forward with a vaccination that are both around 95% effective. Dr. Anthony Fauci says that both vaccines look very promising and the trials went better than expected. 

Herd immunity is the idea that with enough people vaccinated, the rest of the population will be safe from a virus. Herd immunity is effective if there is a high enough percentage of people who get vaccinated and are immune to a disease. 

For the measles, the herd immunity percentage is about 95% of the population. For polio, the herd immunity percentage is 80%. COVID-19’s herd immunity percentage is still unknown because there is a lot more uncertainty with the virus than with other viruses in the past. 

Something that would impact the effectiveness of the vaccine is how long it will last for. Factors like this make it hard for scientists to come up with a herd immunity percentages. 

The Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective. There were 30,000 patients in the study and out of those patients 95 people got infected with COVID. 

Five of the people who got COVID received the vaccination. The Moderna is a vaccine that utilizes an mRNA strand. It also is a two-dose vaccine, the second dose being given after 28 days. 

The Pfizer vaccination is pushing to get approval from the FDA for “Emergency Use Authorization”. If it does get approved, the vaccine could be issued in high risk populations as early as this coming December. This vaccine is 95% effective. They had over 43,000 participants in their study.