AstraZeneca and Pfizer are both pharmaceutical companies that have developed vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine, known as AZD1222, was developed in partnership with the University of Oxford. It uses a weakened version of a common cold virus (a chimpanzee adenovirus) that has been genetically modified to carry the genetic instructions for the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. When the vaccine is given to a person, it triggers an immune response to the spike protein, which helps the body to build immunity to the virus.
Pfizer’s vaccine, known as BNT162b2, was developed in partnership with the German company BioNTech. It uses messenger RNA (mRNA), which is genetic material that carries the instructions for making the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. When the vaccine is given to a person, the mRNA instructs their cells to make the spike protein, which triggers an immune response.
Both vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19. AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been shown to be about 70% effective on average, while Pfizer’s vaccine has been shown to be about 95% effective. Both vaccines have undergone extensive safety testing and have been approved for use by regulatory agencies in many countries.
Overall, AstraZeneca and Pfizer are both pharmaceutical companies that have developed vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19. While their vaccines are different in their design and mechanism of action, they have both been shown to be safe and effective.