Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned Americans against waiting for a particular COVID-19 vaccine – saying that all three on the market are “safe and effective”
“We need to move away from that chain of thought. The only way to really know the difference between vaccines is to compare them face to face, ”Fauci told ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos in “This Week”.
“We have three highly effective, safe and effective vaccines. This is the end result. “
The White House chief medical advisor said the latest option – the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – has features that “really matter to us are important”, despite being less effective than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
“It is more than 85 percent effective [preventing] serious illness and critical illness, and there were no deaths or hospitalizations in any of the countries tested, ”said Fauci.
Comparing the J&J vaccine with the other two vaccines is tricky, as their tests had important differences, said Fauci.
The J&J trial showed about 66 percent efficacy against moderate to severe COVID-19, while those from Pfizer and Moderna focused on mild to moderate disease and showed about 95 percent effectiveness in preventing disease.
The J&J trial was also carried out later and in regions where new highly contagious variants were circulating.
“I think we need to move away from this comparison and analysis of numbers until you compare them face to face. Be very grateful that we have three really effective vaccines, ”said Fauci.
In a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Fauci said he would not hesitate to get the J&J vaccine if it were the option available to him.
“If you go to a place and you have J&J, and this is what is available now, I would accept it. I personally would do the same thing, ”he told host Chuck Todd on Sunday.
“I think people need to be vaccinated as quickly and as quickly as possible. And if I went to a place where they had J&J, I wouldn’t hesitate to accept it. “