As more Johnson & Johnson doses become available in Illinois, marking a third coronavirus vaccine option for residents, can you choose and should you choose?
According to medical experts, the three vaccines currently available in the United States, which include Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved vaccine, each offer some level of protection.
The Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines are already circulating in the United States, both requiring two injections for total protection.
But, according to an analysis by U.S. regulators, the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine also offers strong protection against severe COVID-19.
Here is an analysis:
How effective is each vaccine?
The FDA said the J&J vaccine offers strong protection against what is most important: serious illness, hospitalization and death. One dose was 85% protective against the most serious COVID-19 disease, in a massive study that spanned three continents – protection that has remained strong even in countries like South Africa, where the most worrying variants are spreading.
The published results of a mass vaccination campaign in Israel showed that the Pfizer vaccine was 92% effective in preventing serious illness after two injections and 62% after one. Its estimated effectiveness in preventing death was 72% two to three weeks after the first injection, a rate that may improve as immunity increases over time. Meanwhile, the Moderna vaccine offers a similar level of protection, 94.1%, and requires two vaccines, 28 days apart.
It is not known whether any of the three vaccines prevents the spread of the virus by asymptomatic people.
While overall efficacy data may suggest that candidate J&J is not as strong as the two-dose options Pfizer and Moderna, all the COVID-19 vaccines in the world have been tested differently, making comparisons almost impossible, reported CNBC.
“If you make a comparison for flu vaccines, which we do annually, the effectiveness of the flu can vary from 40% to 60% – and this is a good year,” said Monica Hendrickson, public health administrator for the Department of Health at Peoria County on Wednesday. “Then again, something of high public health was, you know, that we expected something over 40%. To reach 95%, up to 65%, this is a homerun.”
Hendrickson noted that each vaccine is highly effective against death and serious illness for the coronavirus.
“So, really, you’re looking at a distinction that, from a clinical point of view, or, you know, an epidemiological point of view is much smaller compared to what we really expect, which is the decrease in mortality and the decrease in serious illnesses, where they all correspond between the three vaccines, “said Hendrickson. “The most important thing, however, is that when these vaccines hit the market, if you have an option for any of them, buy one.”
Hendrickson’s message echoes one made by Dr. Marina Del Rios, an emergency medicine specialist at the University of Illinois-Chicago, during NBC 5’s “Vaccine Status” panel last month.
“Part of my message in the community is that vaccines on the market are equally effective and safe,” said Del Rios. “The best vaccine you can get is one you can get first, and get vaccinated sooner, sooner or later later, it protects us from getting sick and also our community, which has been terribly devastated by this virus. “
Dr. Arnold Monto of the University of Michigan, who chaired an FDA advisory panel that unanimously voted that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks, said the evidence shows no reason to favor one vaccine over another.
“What I think people are most interested in is whether it will stop me from getting really sick?” Said Collins. “Will it prevent me from dying from this terrible disease? The good news is that everyone says yes to that. “
How are they different?
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines differ from traditional vaccines in the use of mRNA. Instead of introducing a weakened or inactivated germ into your body, this vaccine injects mRNA, the genetic material that our cells read to make proteins, into the muscle in the arm. It teaches your body to make the protein that triggers the production of antibodies so that, if the real virus later enters your body, your immune system recognizes it, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Johnson & Johnson and another AstraZeneca vaccine also have instructions to create the spike protein that gives coronavirus its distinctive shape and uses it to enter the cell. But they make use of DNA within an adenovirus, a common virus.
The J&J injection uses a cold virus like a Trojan horse to transport the spike gene to the body, where cells make harmless copies of the protein to prepare the immune system in case the real virus appears. It is the same technology that the company used to make an Ebola vaccine.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should also be kept frozen, while the J&J vaccine can last for three months in the refrigerator, making handling easier. The AstraZeneca vaccine, widely used in Europe, Britain and Israel, is made in a similar way and also requires refrigeration, but takes two doses.
What are the side effects of each vaccine?
Like the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, the main side effects of the J&J injection are pain at the injection site and a flu-like fever, fatigue and headache. No study participant experienced a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, which is a rare risk of some other injections of COVID-19, although one experienced a less serious reaction.
The FDA said there have been no serious side effects related to the vaccine so far, although it has recommended additional monitoring for blood clots. In the study, these cases were reported in about 15 vaccine recipients and 10 placebo recipients, which is not a sufficient difference to say whether the vaccine played a role.
Where can you get them in Illinois?
Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses have been shipped to Illinois and Chicago since their approval.
A new mass vaccination site in the suburb of Des Plaines became the first large-scale facility to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Illinois.
Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said on Tuesday that although the city received doses after Johnson & Johnson’s approval, no shipments were sent this week and none are expected next week.
“When you are planning, it can be difficult to know. We hope there will be some in the following week, but there were none,” said Arwady. “Our Modern vaccine has been flat, flat, flat for six weeks, right? We have been receiving 26,050 first doses of the Modern vaccine to spread across the city every week – first doses. And then our Pfizer is going up a little bit.”
A new program for Chicago home residents also has paramedics taking doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine into people’s homes.
Are there any other options?
Additional vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax may also be potentially approved in the U.S.
“In addition to the three that have been approved or authorized here in the U.S., we are keeping an eye on AstraZeneca,” said Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Allison Arwady on Thursday. “This is for active use, right? It’s already in use in Europe and some other countries and is, you know, doing studies here … let’s see. They haven’t been done yet, but there has been some speculation that, you you know, maybe in April we can see this vaccine. “
Arwady noted that the AtraZeneca vaccine “performed well overall,” but there were concerns that it might not be as effective against the variant that emerged in South Africa.
“There has been some extra attention in looking at the vaccine in this context, but it has also generally been a very good vaccine,” said Arwady. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that one potentially going, you know, being introduced to the FDA in April.”
Novavax, which is the least known of the remaining vaccines, Arwady said, is another one she is monitoring.
“Hundreds of companies have been looking for vaccines, but I would say that Novavax is the other one here in the US and I am looking to advance testing, but their initial data looked good,” she said. “Could this be a kind of May for another vaccine? I think possibly.”