Recently, Johnson & Johnson received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its one-dose vaccine. This vaccine also creates an instruction for the surface protein but uses a common virus called an adenovirus. A similar approach is used by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Horney said these one-shot vaccines do not require extremely cold storage like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and are still very effective at preventing severe infections that result in hospitalizations and deaths. In clinical trials, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85% effective against severe COVID infections globally, and 100% effective against hospitalization and death among all who received the vaccine in the trial.

Virus variants

Maybe it’s all those science-fiction movies from the past, but few things scare people more than the idea of mutated viruses. The reality is that variants are a natural part of viruses. It’s always been expected there would be COVID-19 variants circulating, and it’s been happening since the start of the pandemic, Horney said.

“Every time the virus gets copied, there can be a mistake. Sometimes the mistake is beneficial and sometimes it's detrimental, and sometimes it doesn't matter,” Horney said.

Studying these changes are how researchers learn about how the virus is spread and how it affects those who are infected. There are several variants that are circulating in the United States, including one first identified in the United Kingdom that spreads more easily. Other variants originated in Brazil and South Africa.

Side effects of the second shot

Many people are excited to get their first coronavirus vaccination shot, but the second shot can bring some side effects that are less than pleasant. People have reported having a headache, fatigue, chills and nausea that lasts a day or two after the second dose.

In this case, feeling bad is actually a good sign indicating that your body is trying to defend itself. “That bad feeling means that your body is responding,” Horney said. “And that's what you want, because you want your body to remember this virus when it encounters it the next time.”

Bottom line – get a vaccine as soon as it is your turn. The additional vaccines now available will do a lot towards getting us back to a “new normal” post pandemic, she said.

Looking beyond the pandemic

COVID-19 has wide-ranging and likely long-term impacts on young children and families, said Laura Lessard, an assistant professor with the Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition.