COVID-19 vaccines in the Netherlands

• Moderna (Spikevax) - The Moderna vaccine is an mRNA vaccine.  Read more about the Moderna vaccine (only in Dutch)
• Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) - The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (brand name: Comirnaty) is an mRNA vaccine. Read more about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (only in Dutch)
• Janssen. - The Janssen vaccine is a vector vaccine.  Read more about the Janssen vaccine
• Novavax. - The Novavax vaccine is a protein-based vaccine.  Read more about the Novavax vaccine
• AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) - The AstraZeneca vaccine is a vector vaccine.  The COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca is no longer used in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Netherlands.

Animation Novavax vaccine

Read more about these vaccines on Government.nl

Types of COVID-19 vaccines

• The COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and by Moderna are mRNA vaccines. These RNA vaccines contain a protective envelope of lipids (fat) with an instruction (code) that tells your cells to make spike proteins. These are the spiky protrusions on the exterior of the coronavirus. The immune system recognises the spike proteins as foreign substances and starts making antibodies. 
• The COVID-19 vaccine made by Janssen is a vector vaccine. The vector vaccine contains an inactivated cold virus (that cannot replicate) with an instruction (code) that tells your cells to make spike proteins. The immune system reacts by producing antibodies, just as it does in response to the mRNA vaccines. 
• The Novavax vaccine is a protein subunit vaccine. The vaccine contains very small particles of spike protein, which have been produced in a laboratory. It also contains an adjuvant: a substance that intensifies the body’s immune response to the protein. After vaccination, the body responds by producing antibodies against the spike protein. If the body encounters the SARS-COV-2 virus, the immune system recognises the spike proteins on the virus. In response, the immune system starts producing antibodies. 

Package leaflets for the COVID-19 vaccines

There is no gelatin, chicken protein or antibiotics in the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna or in the vector vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Janssen.