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A third Covid vaccine – 19, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, may be licensed for use in the United States in the near future.
Data on the new Covid vaccine – 19 requiring only one injection , were released on Friday and the company is now collecting its data to apply for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of United States , CNN reported.
The vaccine was manufactured through a vaccine division collaboration with based in Belgium of J&J, Janssen Pharmaceutical and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and works a little differently.
Here is what is known about how it works and how it will fit into the vaccine mix:
Covid Single Shot Vaccine – 19 of Johnson & Johnson was shown to be a 66% effective in prevention of moderate and severe diseases, in a global phase 3 trial, the company announced on Friday.
The level of protection achieved by Johnson & Johnson is above the minimum required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , but is below the already approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccines , which exceed 90%.
The efficacy of this company’s vaccine dropped to 57% in the sample of volunteers in South Africa, affected by the South African strain B.1. 351, which is proving to be more elusive for vaccines that are being developed.
The US conglomerate also showed data in the case of the tests with volunteers in the United States and the effectiveness was better than at the global level, with 72 %.
The vaccine has an overall efficacy of 85% to prevent hospitalization and death in all test regions.
The strength of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine candidate is that it is being developed to require only one dose and not two, as in the case of Moderna and Pfizer, which already are administering in the population, but requiring more complex logistics and traceability.
The chief scientist of the chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate, Paul Stoffels, told the specialized media Stat News, that the most significant is the high percentage of effectiveness in the prevention of the most severe cases of covid – 19.
“In a pandemic, if you can eliminate the severe consequences of death, hospitalization and serious illness with a single dose, that is what matters most,” he said.
The US authorities, who They have started a failed and slow national vaccination campaign, they want to speed up injections to cover a large part of the population before the summer.
The lower efficiency of the majority of vaccines against the South African variant worries the health authorities, who consider that it is vital to vaccinate as many people as possible before it is implanted as a dominant variant.
The chief scientist of the chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate, Paul Stoffels, indicated to the specialized medium Stat News, that the most significant is the high percentage of effectiveness in preventing the most severe cases of covid – 19 . “In a pandemic, if you can eliminate the severe consequences of death, hospitalization and serious illness with a single dose, that is what matters most,” he said.
The US authorities, who have started a slow and failing national vaccination campaign, want to accelerate vaccines to protect much of the population before the summer.
With information from EFE
