Three COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Essex County Health Department is using all three of these vaccines at our clinics. Check the Make an Appointment page for more information on what vaccine will be offered at each clinic.
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.
Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine is a viral-vector vaccine. Viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells.
You may have some side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building protection. These side effects may affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects.
As of February 27, 2021, large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials are in progress or being planned for two COVID-19 vaccines in the United States:
