Megan Tomoney

The end of the pandemic is closer than ever because of the preparation of two vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna both announced their new vaccines getting approved by the FDA.

Both vaccines have tested to be 90% effective against COVID-19 and hope to be available by the beginning of the new year.

While both companies have submitted their request to produce and distribute, it seems Pfizer’s vaccine will be the first off the table, as the company has requested Emergency Use Authorization, which the United Kingdom has already approved.

“This constitutes the first Emergency Use Authorization following a worldwide Phase 3 trial of a vaccine to help fight the pandemic,” says Pfizer in an update on the vaccine.

In another update regarding the efficiency of their vaccine, Pfizer also said that “The vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficiency analysis.” These are the results of Phase 3 testing, which starts in July, after a long 10-month period of testing and analysis.

Pfizer, who is pairing their testing with BioNTech, is a well-known vaccine distributer, producing “200 million doses of Pfizer vaccines annually,” making the company one of the largest suppliers.

This vaccine, though, due to the key mRNA ingredients, will only last up to 35 days if kept at the proper temperature. Their use of mRNA, though, makes it the first vaccine using mRNA to be approved and distributed so widely, with Dr. Carlos del Rio telling NBC News that, “there’s no mRNA vaccine out there that has been approved yet.”

Moderna, on the other hand, is just beginning their Phase 2 trials, which will “evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of two vaccinations of mRNA-1273,” as stated by Moderna.

Like Pfizer, Moderna is using mRNA as a key factor in the vaccine and needs two doses to be effective. One of the big differences is that Moderna’s vaccine does not need to be stored in temperatures as cold, with the range being 36-46 degrees Fahrenheit compared to Pfizer’s -96 degrees Fahrenheit.

The shelf life for both is about the same, only lasting about 30 days, as mRNA is so delicate.

The possible prices for each vaccine in the U.S. after initial distribution are still unclear, with Shawn Radcliffe for HealthLine saying that it might come between $4 and $20 a dose. In any case, this is something that college students should begin to prepare for in the next coming months, depending on when the vaccines are released.

It is likely that those with underlying conditions and high-level positions will be on the list for the first 100 million vaccines to be given in the U.S.