“The safety and efficacy of the current vaccines are very clear. These three vaccines do work to prevent disease and the spread of disease, and they are as safe as any other vaccines that have been in use.
Although some side effects have been reported, these issues are rare and treatable,” he told Healthline.
All three vaccines are proven to be effective in varying degrees against the original variant of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID-19.
However, since the delta variant emerged, scientists have been trying to establish whether these vaccines are as effective against it.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
According toan analysiscarried out by Public Health England, two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to be about 88 percent effective against symptomatic disease and 96 percent effective against hospitalization with the delta variant.The same study suggested that the vaccine was approximately 80 percent effective against preventing infection from the delta variant.
ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS OF PFIZER-BIONTECH VACCINEAnywhere from 64 to 96 percent effective against the delta variant with two doses.
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
There are multiple lab studies that suggest the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine works against the delta variant. And similar to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna is also testing whether a third dose is beneficial.
The findings, however, indicate that even a single dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines provides “good to excellent” protection against symptomatic infection as well as severe illness. Two doses were also found likely to provide even higher protection.ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS OF MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINEOne study estimates 72 percent effectiveness from one dose. Other studies suggest it may offer similar protection as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
“Current data for the eight months studied so far show that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time. In addition, we observe a persistent and particularly robust, durable cellular immune response,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, the global head of Janssen Research & Development at Johnson & Johnson, in a July 1press release.Astudypublished on the preprint server BioRxiv suggested the J&J vaccine is 67 percent effective against the delta variant.
The study also found the vaccine produced fewer antibodies against delta than it did for the alpha variant, but scientists say the study only examined 27 people and may not accurately reflect its real-life performance.
ESTIMATED EFFECTIVENESS OF J&J COVID-19 VACCINEMore comprehensive studies are needed to reach a definitive answer.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/heres-how-well-covid-19-vaccines-work-against-the-delta-variant#Vaccines-vs.-delta-variant
