Johnson & Johnson may be the first one-shot COVID vaccine to hit the market, but today we are learning it’s not as effective as the two doses that Moderna and Pfizer are dispensing. The AP reports:
J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe illness, and much more protective — 85% — against the most serious symptoms.
The vaccine maker may seek FDA emergency authorization next week, which means it could be available sometime in February. The U.S. has already ordered 100 million doses.
The J&J vaccine does have a major advantage over the other vaccines. It can be refrigerated, whereas the other vaccines need to be stored in freezers (and shipped with dry ice).
The dilemma people may soon be presented with is this: If the J&J vaccine is readily available should they get it or wait longer to receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine? Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA vaccine advisory committee addressed this today on CNN:
If the mRNA vaccines were abundant and we didn’t have the manufacturing issues we had, you would choose the mRNA vaccine, but that’s not the current reality. The current reality is that we don’t have enough mRNA vaccine. We have another vaccine in Johnson & Johnson’s. We need to look at the data at the FDA level. We have another vaccine which is highly effective at keeping you out of the hospital. That’s an advantage in a situation where we don’t have enough vaccines. So I think people need to consider that. Were it me, were I not able to get the mRNA vaccine and I only had the choice of Johnson & Johnson, I would take it.
