J&J COVID-19 Vaccine is This Effective in the United States Compared to Moderna and Pfizer

After a long year of coronavirus in 2020, at least 2021 has a light at the end of the tunnel with several coronavirus vaccines already being administered to citizens of the world.

Johnson & Johnson announced last week that its COVID-19 vaccine is 72% effective in the U.S., and 66% overall in a large trial.

The company’s single-dose vaccine was 72% effective in preventing COVID-19 in the United States but a lower rate of 66% was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents and against multiple variants.

The trial had almost 44,000 volunteers and the level of protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 was 66% in Latin America and just 57% in South Africa. An alarming variant of the virus has been found in South Africa.

The company’s vaccine was 85% effective in stopping severe disease and preventing hospitalization across all geographies and against multiple variants 28 days after immunization.

That level of prevention “will potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from serious and fatal outcomes of COVID-19,” said Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer of the company.

The company plans to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week.
Compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, J&J’s does not require a second shot weeks after the first or need to be kept frozen.

J&J’s vaccine uses a common cold virus known as adenovirus type 26 to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells in the body and trigger an immune response.

“What we are learning is there is different efficacy in different parts of the world,” Stoffels said to Reuters on mutations of the virus.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.