The Covid19 vaccine progress has been remarkable. A number of vaccine candidates including Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer are getting closer to be available. China has already developed and vaccinated thousands of people but their vaccines have not been given the trials for effectiveness before they were rolled out to the population. A number of countries are already contracting with China to get their vaccination even though it has not been fully tested as the virus had already been on the downturn in China before the vaccine was rolled out according to the NY Times. The vaccines may also be risky as they were not thoroughly tested. Two of the soon-to-be-approved candidates from Moderna and Pfizer are using a unique approach to vaccines called mRNA. Actually, the research and theories behind mRNA as a faster and reliable way to develop effective vaccines have been with us since the 1990s. Going from theory to application, to a safe and effective vaccine method has taken years, but both Moderna and Pfizer's third stage candidates appear to be safe and 95% effective in preventing Covid19 infection either in the mild or severe form. The vaccines are also effective in the group that is most at risk; those who are over 70 years of age. Pfizer just applied for emergency approval of their vaccine to the general public and Moderna, who has never brought a product to market is not far behind. The road back to normal will require a vaccine, just as the road to normal from polio required and it had changed everything at the time. Recent information suggests that immunity to covid19 when achieved naturally may last years. Perhaps, these vaccinations will do the same. Check out the story behind these mRNA vaccines, how they were developed, and how they can change the future of how we develop vaccines for future pandemics. By DAMIAN GARDE and JONATHAN SALTZMAN — BOSTON GLOBENOVEMBER 10, 2020 ANDOVER, Mass. — The liquid that many hope could help end the Covid-19 pandemic is stored in a nondescript metal tank in a manufacturing complex owned by Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest drug companies. There is nothing remarkable about the container, which could fit in a walk-in closet, except that its contents could end up in the world’s first authorized Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer, a 171-year-old Fortune 500 powerhouse, has made a billion-dollar bet on that dream. So has a brash, young rival just 23 miles away in Cambridge, Mass. Moderna, a 10-year-old biotech company with billions in market valuation but no approved products, is racing forward with a vaccine of its own. Its new sprawling drug-making facility nearby is hiring workers at a fast clip in the hopes of making history — and a lot of money. In many ways, the companies and their leaders couldn’t be more different. Pfizer, working with a little-known German biotech called BioNTech, has taken pains for much of the year to manage expectations. Moderna has made nearly as much news for its stream of upbeat press releases, executives’ stock sales, and spectacular rounds of funding as for its science. Read more