How Long Does The COVID-19 Vaccine Last?

Getting COVID-19 vaccines to as many people as possible is of critical importance as the world works to end the pandemic, but one critical question remains: Just how long does the vaccine last?

Since the vaccines are still quite new, we can't be positive how long a shot will protect you from COVID-19. We do know, at least, that the Pfizer vaccine offers protection for at least six months, as was recently reported in a statement from Pfizer and BioNTech (via CNN) who said, "The vaccine was 100% effective against severe disease as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 95.3% effective against severe COVID-19 as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)... the high vaccine efficacy observed through up to six months following a second dose... provides further confidence in our vaccine's overall effectiveness."

It is possible that the vaccine could remain effective for longer, but we won't know until more time has passed.

Chunhuei Chi, the director of Oregon State University's College of Public Health, told Verywell Health that it's "very likely that for [the] COVID-19 vaccine, given that the length of immunity the vaccine generates is limited, we may have to be vaccinated annually."

How long does the Moderna vaccine last? Again, only time will tell, but it's likely it will last at least as long as the Pfizer vaccine. Jere McBride, the director of the University of Texas Medical Branch's experimental pathology graduate program, told the outlet that "the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines should be similar, based on the mRNA approach and the fact that the specific mRNA used to induce immunity is similar."

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is newer so we know less about it, but the important thing is to get whatever vaccine you can as soon as you can. "These are three highly efficacious vaccines," infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's State of the Union. He added, "If I were not vaccinated now and I had a choice of getting a J&J vaccine now or waiting for another vaccine, I would take whatever vaccine would be available to me as quickly as possible for the simple reason... [that] we want to get as many people vaccinated as quickly and expeditiously as possible."