The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Is Only 72% Effective, Is It An Inferior Vaccine?

In March 2021, US President Bidenannounced that he would purchase an additional 100 million doses of Johnson& Johnson's vaccine. At the same time, he said that the UnitedStates will achieve the goal of vaccinating all adults in the United States bythe end of May. Biden explained that the purchase of excess J&J vaccines isto prepare in advance for surprises that may arise during the vaccinationprocess. "We need to ensure maximum flexibility," he said. Unlike thePfizer and Moderna vaccines commonly vaccinated in the United States before,which are mRNA vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a viral vectorvaccine.

This vaccine is vastly differentfrom the two previous vaccines. First of all, compared to the nearly 95%effectiveness of Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines, the Johnson & Johnsonvaccine is only about 70% effective, which inevitably makes many people worryabout whether it is enough to help people defend against the new coronavirus.At the same time, the difference between Johnson & Johnson vaccine andother vaccines is that it only requires a single injection, which can greatlyincrease the vaccination efficiency. The two characteristics of only one shot andlow effectiveness have made some people wonder if it is a lesser vaccine thanModerna and Pfizer.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccinewas certified by the U.S. FDA in February 2021 and was officially put into usein the United States. As of March 17, 2021, 4 million doses of the Johnson& Johnson vaccine have been shipped across the United States, and 20million doses will be delivered this month. Currently, in the United States,460,000 people have been vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson. If the rolloutgoes well, the amount currently ordered is enough to meet the needs of mostpeople for the vaccine. With the introduction of the vaccine, many people beganto question the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. On somesocial media, some people started calling it a "secondary vaccine."

According to a CDC survey report inFebruary 2021, under the premise that Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnsonvaccines can be selected, 60% of the respondents chose the two-dose vaccinepreviously launched, and only 7% were clear Indicates a preference for asingle-dose J&J vaccine. Meanwhile, 72% said that if it was J&J's turn,they tended to pass up the chance and wait for the other two vaccines. Theseevaluations are mainly due to its effectiveness, which is 64% effective inSouth Africa and only about 72% effective in the United States, which seems tobe much lower than Moderna and Pfizer.

Firstof all, because the three vaccines are launched at a relatively long time,their clinical trial conditions are quite different. For example, the clinicaltrial data of Pfizer and Moderna were conducted before many mutant variantsappeared, while Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was tested after many variantsin the United Kingdom, South Africa and so on. Multiple sets of trial data showthat the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be very effective against the newcoronavirus variant. If Pfizer and Moderna were tested under the sameconditions, the results would likely be quite similar.

Inaddition, although the efficacy data of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine inthe United States is about 72% effective, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine hasa comparable role to Pfizer and Moderna in helping people reduce the risk ofsevere illness and death. According to the New York Times, tests in the UnitedStates have shown that 100% of the test subjects who have been vaccinated withthe Johnson & Johnson vaccine are not critically ill and requirehospitalization.

Atthe same time, the study found that the effectiveness of the Johnson &Johnson vaccine for severe cases will increase over time. It reached more than90% after 45 days of inoculation. In a report by Biospace, 100% of severeillness and death can be prevented after 49 days of vaccination for ordinarypeople. During the study, people who received the Johnson & Johnsonvaccine, even if they were infected with the new crown, had far less symptomsthan those tested in the control group and could recover at home on their own.

Such research results have giventhe medical community the hope that the new crown epidemic will greatlyimprove. If the high-efficiency single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine can100% help people avoid critical illness in the United States, it will allowpeople to quickly return to normal life. In addition, it is worth noting thatPfizer and Moderna use mRNA technology, although the technology itself hasexisted for 40 years, but the application in vaccine development does not havea long history. The adenovirus vector vaccine technology itself is atraditional vaccine production technology, and it is theoretically moresophisticated.