With the most recent Johnson and Johnson vaccine being authorized for emergency use, understanding how three different vaccines work can be confusing. 

Guthrie County Public Health Director Jotham Arber says the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines may be slightly different than one another but they all work to do the same thing which is protect you from the virus.

“The great thing about vaccines is they don’t cause the sickness that they are trying to prevent. So, your body is getting those antibodies and it’s getting the immune response it needs so that if it does come into contact with the real thing, the virus that’s circulating in the U.S. and around the world at this point, it has defenses.”

Arber tells Raccoon Valley Radio that while one of the main differences between the vaccines is efficacy, they all keep people from getting extremely sick from the virus. 

“They are all 100-percent, or very close to 100-percent, at keeping people from becoming severely ill or being hospitalized and keeping people from dying.”

Arber says some people may get COVID after being vaccinated, much like sometimes people get the flu after being vaccinated, but Arber notes it will keep people from getting as sick.