Moderna Says Its COVID-19 Vaccine Continues to Offer Strong Protection 6 Months After 2nd Jab

With the news just out on Singaporeans being able to choose which COVID-19 vaccine they would like to take by selecting the corresponding vaccination centre, you may be wondering whether to go for the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, which are currently the only two vaccines authorised in Singapore. 

And rather conveniently, on Tuesday (13 Apr), Moderna announced that its vaccine still demonstrated strong defence against COVID-19 six months after people received their second dose. 

Perhaps this will ease your decision making a little, but ultimately, the choice is yours. 

Moderna Says Its COVID-19 Vaccine Continues to Offer Strong Protection 6 Mths After 2nd Jab

The Moderna vaccine has an efficacy of more than 90% against all cases of COVID-19, and more than 95% against severe COVID-19. 

Moderna said that the six-month follow-up revealed that vaccine efficacy remained in line with previous updates. 

The vaccine maker has also begun testing new versions of the vaccine that are meant to deal with the new variant of the coronavirus, which was first detected in South Africa. This new strain is known as B.1.351. 

Currently, Moderna’s vaccine is approved for use in more than 40 countries. It announced that as of Monday (12 Apr), it has delivered around 132 million doses internationally, with 117 million doses within the US. 

The company aims to roll out 300 million doses of the vaccine by the end of July. 

Moderna uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer-BioNTech, the first ever COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. 

This technology instructs human cells to make proteins that imitate part of the coronavirus. These instructions then engage the immune system and allow the body to zap the virus. 

To know more about the vaccines, watch this video to the end:

You Can Now Choose Your Fighter: Moderna or Pfizer? 

You can now choose which COVID-19 vaccine to take by referring to this list by the Ministry of Health (MOH). 

Currently, the Moderna vaccine is being administered at 11 out of the 38 centres. The rest of the vaccination centres are using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. 

Each vaccination centre administers only one type of vaccine. 

The efficacy rates of both vaccines are rather similar, and reported side effects from both vaccines are similar as well. 

However, while the Pfizer vaccine requires two 30-microgram doses administered three weeks apart, Moderna’s vaccine calls for two 100-microgram doses administered four weeks apart.

And if you’re still unsure which vaccine to go for, here’s a handy comparison by CNA that weighs up the two vaccines (along with Sinovac, which isn’t yet approved in Singapore) that may help you make the decision.

Featured Image: rafapress / Shutterstock.com