Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've had memes to explain, critique, and immortalize every moment and hot take. We've shared memes about how coronavirus restrictions apparently only apply to certain people and even memed the Donald Trump's COVID diagnosis. Through it all, the pandemic has been grossly mishandled, costing hundreds of thousands of lives and devastating Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-income communities specifically. But if you look at these memes, you'd think all we can do about it is laugh.
In true season finale fashion, Pfizer and Moderna each produced their own very impressive COVID-19 vaccines in record time. North America has lost a lot of the little progress it initially made in slowing the spread of the virus and new daily cases are currently at a high in both the U.S. and Canada. But now we do have two syringe-shaped lights at the end of the tunnel, so which one should we pick?
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This is how the Pfizer vs. Moderna meme was born. It's a meme about the ridiculous choices of capitalism. A potential immunization against the virus great news. Having to choose between two major pharmaceutical companies' offerings, one of which was developed thanks to Dolly Parton's sponsorship, feels absurd.
pfizer vs moderna... a classic jacob vs edward choice
— mikaela (@okmikaela) November 17, 2020
Can’t wait for @wirecutter to tell me which vaccine to take.
— Sachin Agarwal (@agarwal) November 16, 2020
i keep reading it as "MODENA might have a 95% effective vaccine" and i'm like well makes sense they do make a good balsamic
— Delia Cai (@delia_cai) November 16, 2020
This must be the competition people talk about that supposedly produces the best version of every product and service imaginable. And slowly, the internet has started to wonder how these mega-companies are managing their feelings. Some of the funniest memes depict moments of jealousy and friendly rivalry.
Pfizer, when they learned that the Moderna vaccine is slightly more effective and doesn’t require a -80 cold chain pic.twitter.com/LteO41OzUb
— Ilan Schwartz MD PhD (@GermHunterMD) November 17, 2020
It certainly is season finale material, a swelling climax with a promise for season two. It's even a sign of hope after a year of intermittent progress and so the Pfizer vs. Moderna meme folds itself into the "2020 Writers' Room" memes.
The Pfizer vs Moderna battle is the thrilling end of year match that nobody saw coming
— Land of Size (@LandofSize) November 18, 2020