Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that its single-shot coronavirus vaccine on the way — and it’s 66% effective against COVID-19.
What happened?
J&J said in a statement that the new vaccine was on average 66% effective in protecting against moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms during Phase 3 trials.
- The trials were held in eight countries.
- The vaccine was 72% effective in the U.S. and 57% in South Africa, where a more infectious variant of the vaccine is spreading.
- The company said the virus prevented 85% of severe infections and 100% of hospitalizations and deaths, though. So even though symptoms showed up, 85% of the time it stopped severe infections.
It’s not as effective as others
As Axios explains, this J&J vaccine “is not as effective as some of its two-dose competitors, but still provides strong protection against the most serious COVID-19 symptoms.”
- For example, the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is 95% effective against COVID-19, per STAT News.
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Former Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said on Twitter that the vaccine’s effectiveness is “a fantastic result,” though.
- “We now have 3 highly effective vaccines. This vaccine showed sustained (and increasing!) immune protection over time, perhaps from a robust early induction of memory immune cells (CD4 and CD8). The protection was strong and durable.
- “This one shot vaccine was highly effective at preventing severe disease, even with new variants. The milieu of disease now is more complex; even in U.S. — trials done today are running into more mutated cases. Make no mistake: this is an important and wonderful development.”