Overview of COVID Vaccines

About this course

Understanding the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the effectiveness of existing vaccines against them is essential to guide vaccination policies and the development of new vaccines. This course provides an up-to-date, in-depth overview of the COVID vaccines and their effectiveness. **Information on COVID-19 and vaccine availability is continuously evolving, and this course provides the most recent information that was available in July 2022.

Learning objectives

• Review vaccine types readily available to the public
• Understand how vaccines work
• Understand the efficacy and side effects associated with vaccines
• Explain vaccine considerations in special populations
• Summarize post-vaccine administration precautions

Course outline

21 sections · finish in any order across devices

1. 1

   Introduction

   Globally, as of July 2022, there have been over 5 ½ million confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 6 million deaths reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as over 12 million vaccine doses that have been administered.11 The pandemic completely changed the outlook of the wo

   4 min

2. 2

   How Vaccines Work

   Before we delve into the topic, we first need to understand how vaccines work. A vaccine works by training the immune system to recognize and combat pathogens like viruses or bacteria. For this, certain molecules from the pathogen must be introduced into the body to trigger an immune response.6

   4 min

3. 3

   Vaccine Types

   Many efforts have been directed toward the development of vaccines against COVID-19 to avert the pandemic, and most of the developing vaccine candidates have been using the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2.7 As of January 24, 2022, 33 approved vaccines are in use in 197 countries, with 10 vaccines approved f

   4 min

4. 4

   mRNA

   This type of vaccine contains material from the virus that causes COVID-19, which gives our cells instructions to make a harmless protein unique to the virus. After our cells make copies of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. Our bodies recognize that the protein should

   4 min

5. 5

   BNT162b2/ Pfizer

   The BNT162b2 vaccine (Comirnaty) is a lipid nanoparticle formulated, nucleoside-modified, mRNA vaccine encoding a modified SARS-CoV-2 S protein that was developed through a collaborative effort between Pfizer and BioNTech.12 This vaccine allows for the body to create an antibody response to neutrali

   4 min

6. 6

   mRNA-1273/Moderna

   The mRNA-1273 vaccine (Spikevax) developed by Moderna is a lipid-nanoparticle encapsulated mRNA vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2 S protein that has been pre-fusion stabilized.12 This spike glycoprotein moderates host cell attachments. Hence, it is essential for viral entry, and thus, the primary va

   4 min

7. 7

   ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca)

   The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AZD1222, Vaxzevria) is a non-replicating vector of the chimpanzee adenovirus ChAdOx1, modified to encode the SARS-CoV-2 S protein and was developed through collaboration between the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK).12

   4 min

8. 8

   Ad26.COV.2.S (Johnson & Johnson)

   The Ad26.COV.2.S vaccine is a non-replicating adenovirus vector modified to contain the SARS-CoV-2 S protein in a pre-fusion stabilized conformation and requires only one dose. This vector was developed from the recombinant human adenovirus type 26 by the Janssen pharmaceutical company Johnson & Joh

   4 min

9. 9

   Protein Subunit Vaccines

   The antigen’s appearance in its most steady and efficient conformation has been one of the difficulties of using the protein subunit vaccine. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are comprised of several protein molecules capable of self-assembling into nanostructures that surround the capsid proteins inside

   4 min

10. 10

    Novavax

    This vaccine consists of a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 S protein nanoparticle combined with the adjuvant Matrix-M as a coformulation. It produces similar immune responses to those already discussed.12 Novavax directly injects a version of the spike protein, along with another ingredient that stimulates t

    4 min

11. 11

    mRNA

    BNT162b2/ Pfizer

    4 min

12. 12

    Adenovirus

    ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca)

    4 min

13. 13

    Protein Subunit

    Novavax

    4 min

14. 14

    Administration

    This section will discuss regulatory authorities’ approach to evaluating COVID-19 vaccines.

    4 min

15. 15

    Safety Evidence

    Safety evidence is essential to each regulatory submission for a COVID-19 vaccine. It is gathered during all phases of the vaccine development process. Robust assessment of safety is carried out in the clinical trials and submitted to regulators for review as part of the approval process.14

    4 min

16. 16

    Efficiency

    Companies must submit data from well-designed clinical trials to regulators to demonstrate that the vaccine prevents COVID-19.14

    4 min

17. 17

    Pregnancy Considerations

    Pregnant and recently pregnant women are more likely to get severely ill with COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women.15 However, accumulating data provides scientific evidence of both the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. The CDC strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccination

    4 min

18. 18

    Allergies

    In most cases, people with allergies can easily get COVID-19 vaccines with the same adverse effects as anyone else, except for the following 2 exceptions:15

    4 min

19. 19

    Case Study

    The case study involved adult (≥18 years) users of the COVID Symptom Study mobile phone app. For the risk factor analysis, cases had received a first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between Dec 8, 2020, and July 4, 2021; had either a positive COVID-19 test at least 14 days after their first vac

    4 min

20. 20

    Findings

    In the risk factor analysis,16

    4 min

21. 21

    Conclusion

    The treatment and management of COVID-19 is a continually evolving topic; however, health authorities have published and continue to update guidelines and recommendations for treating COVID-19.12

    4 min

This course satisfies

Requirement summaries come from our state requirement records. Always confirm details with your board before you renew.

References and resources

• Lauring AS, Tenforde MW, Chappell JD, et al. Clinical severity of, and effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against, COVID-19 from omicron, delta, and alpha SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United States: prospective observational study. BMJ. Published online March 9, 2022:e069761. doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-069761
• Hall V, Foulkes S, Insalata F, et al. Protection against SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 Vaccination and Previous Infection. New England Journal of Medicine. Published online February 16, 2022. doi:10.1056/nejmoa2118691
• Eyre DW, Taylor D, Purver M, et al. Effect of COVID-19 Vaccination on Transmission of Alpha and Delta Variants. New England Journal of Medicine. Published online January 5, 2022. doi:10.1056/nejmoa2116597
• Francis AI, Ghany S, Gilkes T, Umakanthan S. Review of COVID-19 vaccine subtypes, efficacy and geographical distributions. Postgraduate Medical Journal. Published online August 6, 2021:postgradmedj-2021-140654. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2021-140654
• Shahcheraghi SH, Ayatollahi J, Aljabali AA, et al. An overview of vaccine development for COVID-19. Therapeutic Delivery. 2021;12(3):235-244. doi:10.4155/tde-2020-0129
• PublicHealth. How Vaccines Work | PublicHealth.org. PublicHealth.org. Published 2011. https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccines-work/
• Kaur SP, Gupta V. COVID-19 Vaccine: A comprehensive status report. Virus Research. 2020;288:198114. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2020.198114
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
• Dye C. The benefits of large scale COVID-19 vaccination. BMJ. 2022;377:o867. doi:10.1136/bmj.o867
• MU Health Care. What Are the Benefits of Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine? www.muhealth.org. Published 2021. https://www.muhealth.org/our-stories/what-are-benefits-getting-COVID-19-vaccine
• World Health Organization. WHO COVID-19 dashboard. World Health Organization. Published 2022. https://covid19.who.int/
• Young M, Crook H, Scott J, Edison P. COVID-19: virology, variants, and vaccines. BMJ Medicine. 2022;1(1). doi:10.1136/bmjmed-2021-000040
• Novavax’s COVID-19 Vaccine: Your Questions Answered. Yale Medicine. Accessed July 27, 2022. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/novavax-covid-vaccine
• WHO. Statement for healthcare professionals: How COVID-19 vaccines are regulated for safety and effectiveness. www.who.int. Published May 17, 2022. https://www.who.int/news/item/17-05-2022-statement-for-healthcare-professionals-how-COVID-19-vaccines-are-regulated-for-safety-and-effectiveness
• Information for Special Populations and the COVID-19 vaccine | Yale Health. yalehealth.yale.edu. Published October 4, 2021. https://yalehealth.yale.edu/yale-COVID-19-vaccine-program/information-special-populations-and-COVID-19-vaccine
• Antonelli M, Penfold RS, Merino J, et al. Risk factors and disease profile of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app: a prospective, community-based, nested, case-control study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2021;22(1). doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(21)00460-6

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