- One of the scientists who helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna applauded the new results from the Johnson & Johnson trial, although they are not as stellar as hers.
- J&J announced on Friday that its vaccine COVID-19 was 72% effective in reducing symptomatic infections in tests in the U.S., while Moderna was more than 94% effective at the same time.
- “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of good enough,” vaccine expert Kizzmekia Corbett said on Twitter.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
A leading coronavirus vaccine scientist who helped develop Moderna’s highly effective vaccine says the new Johnson & Johnson test results, which are 72% effective for a single-dose vaccine in the U.S., look “very good” .
“Don’t let the perfect get in the way of good enough,” Kizzmekia Corbett, scientific leader of coronavirus vaccines at the National Institutes of Health’s Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, wrote on Twitter Friday.
Corbett was instrumental in the development of Moderna’s new COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which (along with the Pfizer vaccine) is one of two vaccines authorized for emergency use to combat the pandemic in the United States.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are impressive vaccines, showing efficacy in excess of 94% in clinical trials with tens of thousands of people in the United States and around the world.
According to a press release from J&J on Friday, the company’s one-shot adenovirus vaccine was 72% effective in reducing symptomatic COVID-19 infections in the United States, 66% effective globally and 85% effective in preventing serious illnesses.
“This is very good for a dose … ‘in a pandemic’,” added Corbett.
The new vaccine from J&J is also cheaper, easier to manufacture and store and faster to administer (a single injection) when compared to Pfizer and Moderna.
Read More: How does Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine compare to Pfizer and Moderna injections?
We were “spoiled” by the stellar results of Pfizer and Moderna, said Corbett
Kizzmekia Corbett, senior researcher and scientific leader for coronavirus vaccines at the National Institutes of Health’s Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory, spoke with President Donald Trump, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins on March 3, 2020.
AP Photo / Evan Vucci
Corbett said he “fears” that people will be “harmed by the results of the mRNA assay” and that any other vaccine (such as the J&J adenovirus vaccine) could be perceived as an “inferior” technology.
J&J’s shot, she said, is “good enough”.
In fact, the Food and Drug Administration’s guidance for vaccine manufacturers COVID-19 recommends “at least 50%” effectiveness, a barrier that the new J&J injection easily overcomes, both in the United States and around the world.
With new variants circulating rapidly, it may be another tool for stopping deadly infections – even if it is not as potent as mRNA vaccines for stopping diseases completely.
“There was virtually no hospitalization or death in the vaccine group, while in the placebo group [non-vaccinated] group, there was, “said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease specialist, during a press conference at the White House on Friday, after the results of the J&J trial were released.
“It really tells us that we now have an additional value-added vaccine candidate, which, of course, as with all candidates, will present the details of their data to the FDA.”
The company says it will aim to apply for an Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA next week.