Coronavirus Tennessee: Moderna vaccine expected to be approved within the next week

TENNESSEE (WATE) — One of the researchers behind the Moderna vaccine at Vanderbilt says he’s likely going to get the Pfizer vaccine.

Something to note, no slight to his own work; to be clear, it’s just because Pfizer’s will come first.

The Moderna vaccine is expected to be approved within the next week. Dr. Spyros Kalams calls this exciting news, and says it doesn’t matter which vaccine you get, but you need two of the same one.

Both Pfizer and Moderna require two shots to be effective; you also don’t need to get both brands.

Just one.

He is thrilled to know his work is helping to essentially save the world, but also recognizes his work is far from over.

“Kind of pleasantly, I can’t say surprised, but it’s just amazing that everything worked out very, very well and there were no major hiccups. The participants did very well in the trial.”>

Dr. Spyros Kalams

He says we’d need about 75% of the United States vaccinated to really get back to normal.

Additionally, he suggests continuing to wear a mask even once you’re vaccinated. That’s because, he admits, though the vaccine is showing to be almost 95% effective, they still don’t know how it will hold up over time.

Will it prevent infection or will it just make symptoms milder if you are infected? He says they’re continuing to study that.