--- description: Find out why COVID-19 vaccines is one of the best inventions of 2021 title: COVID-19 vaccines: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d764757ea9c6dd/698a1e93656a3fbaa1bdbcc1/best-inventions-2021-Covid_Vaccine_group.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 10, 2021 # Bottled Hope COVID-19 vaccines by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Vials of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine at a Chicago-area Walgreens hub store on Jan. 6, 2021 Vials of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine at a Chicago-area Walgreens hub store on Jan. 6, 2021Evan Jenkins for TIME This year looks very different from the last when it comes to the pandemic, and that’s largely thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines—three of which, from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson–Janssen, are approved or authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The vaccines use different technologies and have reduced rates of severe COVID-19 as well as hospitalizations and deaths. But with new variants, including Delta, that protection, while still strong, is waning. That’s why countries including the U.S. are authorizing booster shots to strengthen that immunity. _—Alice Park_ COVID-19 vaccines: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113077/covid-19-vaccines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113077/covid-19-vaccines/"},"headline":"Bottled Hope","datePublished":"2021-11-10T11:11:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:55:40.714Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113077/covid-19-vaccines/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d764757ea9c6dd/698a1e93656a3fbaa1bdbcc1/best-inventions-2021-Covid_Vaccine_group.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33d764757ea9c6dd/698a1e93656a3fbaa1bdbcc1/best-inventions-2021-Covid_Vaccine_group.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6113077/covid-19-vaccines/","name":"Bottled Hope"}}]}] ```