Many of us never expected COVID to last more than a year and we certainly don’t want it to last another. Fortunately, the United States already has two COVID vaccines designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Moderna and Pfizer started distributing their vaccines in December, and are more likely on the way – like the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine. While all of this sounds like good news, health officials are being open about how they expect the future of the pandemic to unfold, and it may not be exactly what you want to hear. In fact, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson has just made a rather unsettling prediction about COVID. Read on to find out what you think about what to do from here and for more predictions about the future, Dr. Fauci Just Said that we will never be able to do that again.
Although Johnson & Johnson created a single dose vaccine, that does not mean that it is necessarily one dose and ready forever. During an interview on February 9 with CNBC, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky indicated that the coronavirus behind COVID-19 may be something we are dealing with beyond this year.
“I think most people think that this is something that we will probably, in the coming years, receive a COVID-19 vaccine, just as we would do with a flu vaccine,” said Gorsky. “I don’t think we know exactly what this injection is going to be. But I think we could all imagine a future in which we live with that, but where we can keep science on pace with the virus.” And to learn more about the vaccine’s launch, you may be vaccinated at any Walgreens by this date.
According to Gorsky, “a lot of it will depend on what happens with this virus”, especially in terms of how it develops in new variants. As of now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified three new, more communicable variants that have reached the United States: a variant from the United Kingdom, a variant from South Africa and a variant from Brazil.
“You know, unfortunately, how [COVID] if it spreads it can also mutate. And every time it changes it’s almost like another click of the button, so to speak, where we can see another variant, another mutation, which can have an impact on your ability, for example, to ward off antibodies or have a different type of response, no just a therapy, but also a vaccine, “explained Gorsky. And to learn more about the return to normality, this COVID restriction can last for years, experts say.
One strain in particular, South Africa’s variant B.1.351, has already shown resistance to current COVID vaccines. According The New York Times, South Africa has just suspended the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in its country because researchers determined that it did not prevent people from developing moderate infections. Other vaccines, such as Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, still appear to be effective against this strain, but less than with previous variants – which raises concerns about how future mutations may escape even more of these vaccines.
“It is becoming increasingly apparent that we will be stuck in this whack-a-mole reality, where we have variants that do not respond to vaccines,” Andrea Taylor, PhD, the assistant director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, said The New York Times. “We will try to adjust these vaccines to target new variants, but as the virus will still be able to spread in some populations in some parts of the world, other variants will appear.” And for the most up-to-date information, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
In terms of adjustment vaccines, Moderna and Pfizer have already started working on potential booster doses to deal with emerging variants. Johnson & Johnson recently sent data for its single-dose vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization, which will face a vote on February 26. However, just as the future of the pandemic is uncertain, so is the future of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The manufacturer is testing a second dose of the vaccine.
Mathai Mammen, MD, global head of research and development at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies at Johnson & Johnson, said during an interview on Jan. 5 that the company was preparing to test participants at a two-dose level, giving two doses of the vaccine two months apart. “The reason we are conducting this second study is to see if a second dose can provide greater or longer protection,” said Mammen.
As Gorsky further explained, after testing its single-dose vaccine in locations with hotspot variants, such as Brazil and South Africa, Johnson & Johnson realized that emerging variants are something the manufacturer needs to “prepare for in the coming years. “, which can be called the second dose in use. And for essential vaccine guidance, if it happens after your vaccine, the FDA says you should call 911.