COVID-19 Vaccines - The Facts

I am a Health Visitor

Amy and Jen discuss the efficacy (and what that percentage ACTUALLY means, in terms of the stats), safety and mechanisms of the three vaccines currently approved for use in the UK at the time of recording - The Oxford-AstraZenaca, Moderna-NIAID and the BioNtech-Pfizer. We also talk about some worries that either you might be having about these vaccines or that you might come across from families in your practice over the next few weeks and months. As ever, fear is born of a lack of understanding. Some of this science is new, but despite that there is much we do know and much that we can say with confidence. If you have a worry we have not covered - we want to hear from you. Please don't be shy - if you have thought it there will certainly be plenty of others worrying the same things. Questioning and thinking about these things demonstrates that we are scientifically minded and keen to interrogate the data. So speak up and we can work it out together as a community. Email us at [e-mail]. Thankyou for all your incredible work, both inside and outside of a pandemic. Health visitors are superheroes. Amy and Jen xxx *Please note* There is now additional information to this episode also available which answers listener questions on fertility and conception, allergy and anaphylaxis and having the vaccine after having already had COVID-19. This is available in your podcast feed so please do check it out if it might be helpful for you. Resources and Further Reading: COVID19 chapter in the Green Book: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948757/Greenbook_chapter_14a_v4.pdf Clear explanation on different types of vaccines and how they work: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html The Oxford-AstraZenaca Trial Data: https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2932661-1 The Pfeizer-BioNTech Trial Data: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577?articleTools=true The Moderna-NIAID Trial Data: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389 Drugs in Breastmilk Service (Breastfeeding Network) Info on the COVID vaccines: https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/coronavirus/ WHO guidance on pregnancy and COVID: https://www.who.int/news/item/01-09-2020-new-research-helps-to-increase-understanding-of-the-impact-of-covid-19-for-pregnant-women-and-their-babies November 2020 BMJ study of COVID in pregnancy: https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3320 Panorama BBC episode ‘the race for a vaccine’. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000qdzd/panorama-the-race-for-a-vaccine E-Learning for Healthcare: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/covid-19-vaccination/ Oxford Vaccine Group FAQs: https://www.research.ox.ac.uk/Article/2020-12-30-oxford-vaccine-regulatory-faq WHO description of how vaccines work: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/how-do-vaccines-work?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=landingpageviews&utm_campaign=vaccinebls&fbclid=IwAR1H5aAE-KZTfzLrEqzkxKQAH4BDd-UsFo_BcH4dP3C67CifXkQJwBy3LB0 Interesting discussion on vaccine hesitancy: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-uk