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Coronavirus Watch: One-shot vaccine from J&J found to be safe, 66% effective

Grace Hauck   | Paste BN

It's a big day for vaccine news.

Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine protects against COVID-19 but not as effectively as others already being used in the U.S., data released Friday from the company shows. Here are the highlights:

  • Johnson & Johnson said its late-stage trial in the U.S. and seven other countries showed an overall 66% effectiveness in its vaccine in preventing moderate to severe illness.
  • It was also 85% effective against severe disease across all regions studied, and its effectiveness against severe disease increased over time with none of the vaccinated volunteers reporting severe disease more than 49 days after vaccination.
  • The vaccine also worked better in the U.S., with 72% effectiveness against moderate to severe COVID-19, while it showed only 57% effectiveness in South Africa, where a more rapidly spreading variant of the virus is more prevalent.
  • The vaccine does not need to be kept frozen, allowing it to be distributed through normal vaccine supply chains without the need for new, expensive equipment.
  • For reference, the two-shot vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer are more than 94% effective. By comparison, the seasonal flu vaccine ranges from an average high of about 60% effective to as low as about 20% depending on the year.

It's Friday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news that you need to know:

  • Interim study results released Thursday from Novavax, a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotechnology firm, showed its two-dose COVID-19 candidate vaccine to be safe and roughly 90% effective against the virus.
  • On the AstraZeneca vaccine: The European Union's drug regulator on Friday authorized it for use in all adults despite concerns that not enough data exist to prove it works in older people.
  • The South African variant reached the U.S., identified in South Carolina. The CDC says that preliminary data suggests it spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. There's also concern vaccines might be less effective against this variant.
  • The World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the coronavirus visited a Wuhan hospital Friday where Chinese officials say the first COVID-19 patients were treated more than a year ago.
  • The United Nations' secretary-general is calling attention to the wide disparity in distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, referring to it as a "global emergency" and saying less than 20,000 of the 70 million doses so far administered have gone to people in African countries.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 25.7 million COVID-19 cases and 433,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 101.6 million cases and more than 2.1 million deaths.

See the numbers in your area here, check out where cases are rising here, and see how many vaccines your state has received here.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck

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