South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Questions about Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine answered.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine should begin to arrive in Florida next week. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two, a move that would ease the nationwide supply constraints and bring Florida one step closer to immunizing much more of its population.
Once approved, DeSantis said he is looking at the most effective way to distribute this new COVID vaccine option.
Data suggests the vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, is safe and effective, especially at preventing severe disease, scientists and medical experts say.
But there is skepticism over whether it’s as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The company reports an overall efficacy rate of 66% in preventing moderate to severe cases of the disease caused by the virus. It also reported being 85% effective overall in preventing severe disease and 100% effective in preventing COVID-19related hospitalization and death.
Here’s a roundup of frequently asked questions, and answers, as Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine reaches Floridians.
Q. If I’m offered a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, should I take it, or wait for a more effective one?
A. There is wide agreement among public health and medical professionals that people should not hesitate to take Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
“I just hope that people, when they’re making these decisions aren’t thinking that somehow it’s ineffective,” DeSantis said at a news briefing Thursday.
“It’s terrific to have a third vaccine with clear evidence that benefits exceed the risks,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a vice dean in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a former FDA deputy commissioner. “The use of this vaccine should accelerate the progress against COVID-19.”
The latest vaccine offers a high level of protection after just one dose, while Pfizer/BioNTech’s and Moderna’s products call for two doses. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine can also last up to three months in the refrigerator, whereas the other vaccines must be stored at very cold temperatures. That could potentially make it easier to access and administer, especially in rural areas without freezer capacity.
Dr. Anna P. Durbin, a professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said people should not dwell on which vaccine to get, and that it’s difficult to compare the vaccines, which were tested in different places and reported their data differently.
Johnson & Johnson, for example, factored in some of the new, more contagious virus variants into its study, including the one first discovered in South Africa, which the Pfizer and Moderna trials did not originally include. It also studied more non-U.S. citizens than the other two candidates, and measured efficacy at different points in the study.
“It ’s like comparing apples and oranges,” Durbin said. “What I would recommend is take whatever vaccine you can get. Don’t quibble over which one it is. Take whichever is available. Efficacy numbers ... are not the whole story. We’re really looking for prevention of severe disease, hospitalization and death. All of these vaccines are excellent at that.”
Q. Should anyone in particular get Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine over the other vaccines?
A. The three vaccines could each be used for those who are eligible, but some have advantages for certain groups over others.
For example, Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine could be especially beneficial for people who have difficulty taking time off work, and may offer more protection faster than the other two candidates, which require two shots three and four weeks apart.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine also might have less severe side effects, Durbin said, potentially making it more desirable for people who can’t take time off or prefer not to experience flu-like symptoms or prolonged muscle soreness.
DeSantis said Thursday that the single dose could help increase vaccination rates in rural communities, which have less access to pharmacies, drug stores and medical providers.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a different approach from those already in use.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine sends a piece of the virus’s genetic code into people’s cells on an adenovirus, a cause of the common cold. The code tells cells to make virus proteins that in turn sparks an immune response to fight the virus.
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccine, meanwhile, uses messenger RNA technology, which delivers a bit of genetic code to cells that helps develop antibodies and activates the immune system.
A real-world study of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine involving more than half a million inoculated people found the Pfizer/BioNTech shot was 94% effective at cutting symptomatic COVID-19 cases across all age groups. The Moderna vaccine was 94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, after the second dose.
Q. What if I have an underlying health condition, or am statistically more vulnerable to contracting severe COVID-19?
A. The Johnson & Johnson trials reported that the vaccine candidate was 85% effective in preventing severe disease across all regions studied, 28 days after vaccination in all adults 18 years and older. Efficacy against severe disease increased over time, with no cases in vaccinated participants reported after day 49, according to the company.
Durbin said that means the vaccine works across ages and medical conditions. In fact, the trials found participants with underlying health conditions and those over age 65 fared exceptionally well, she said.
Perhaps most i mportantly, the vaccine demonstrated efficacy against the new variants, making it a viable option for all interested adults, she added.
“This is going to be highly effective at preventing severe COVID-19, even caused by the South African variant,” she said. “If one were significantly less efficacious, that would be a concern. But when we look at these, they’re all highly efficacious.
“If you can prevent hospitalization and death, you can have a huge public health impact.”
Q. Is the vaccine approved for children?
A. J&J’s vaccine has been tested in people 18 and older. For now, it won’t be available for use in children and teens under 18. Moderna’s also has been approved for use in people 18 and older, however, the company is testing its vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds.
However, the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for use for people aged 16 and older.
Q. How long will the protection last?
A. Much like with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it is not clear how long immunity from Johnson & Johnson’s product will last.
Scientists are trying to answer that question now and say it’s possible people might need annual shots, just like with the flu vaccine, especially as more variants emerge and become dominant.
The vaccine makers also say they are prepared to adapt their vaccines for the variants if needed, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said recently that they would not need to do more expansive human trials.
Q. When will it become available in Florida, and where?
A. Johnson & Johnson said it could provide the nation with 20 million doses by the end of March and 100 million doses by the end of June, though vaccine manufacturing is complicated and production issues could hinder the totals.
Those doses would add significantly to the 600 million that President Biden recently said would be available of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the end of summer, enough to cover most Americans, considering those vaccines require two doses and the Johnson and Johnson vaccine requires one.
How many doses will come to Florida isn’t yet clear. But DeSantis said the state should know as early as next week how much Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will arrive in the initial shipment.
It was not immediately clear where the state would allocate the Johnson & Johnson doses.