COVID-19 vaccines have become a part of daily conversations in 2021, yet people rarely refer to them by their brand names. Here are explanations of the brand names chosen for five COVID-19 vaccines, according to a Nov. 22 Endpoints News report.
- Comirnaty, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine: The name represents a combination of the terms COVID-19, mRNA, community and immunity.
- Spikevax, Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine: The first part of the name refers to the “spike” glycoprotein on the coronavirus.
- Vaxzevria, AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine: Including the "evri" sound in the name is intended to communicate that the vaccine is for everyone.
- Nuvaxovid, Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine: The vaccine's name was designed to share a similar cadence to the drugmaker's name without an explicit association.
- Vidprevtyn, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline's COVID-19 vaccine: The first syllable of the name likely refers to COVID-19, and the second syllable is likely meant to represent disease prevention, according to the report.