Johnson & Johnson, 66% Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccine Prevention

Lower Efficacy Compared to Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines
U.S. Experts Assess No Issues

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The preventive efficacy of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson was found to be an average of 66%.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Johnson & Johnson announced on the 29th (local time) that the results of the Phase 3 clinical trials conducted by region showed preventive efficacy of 72% in the United States, 66% in Latin America, and 57% in South Africa, respectively.

The company stated that the vaccine demonstrated 85% effectiveness in preventing severe COVID-19.

Although Johnson & Johnson's vaccine showed lower preventive efficacy compared to Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, U.S. health experts evaluated it positively.

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a member of U.S. President Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory panel, referred to the vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna as "these are, in my opinion, three almost identical vaccines."

Osterholm explained that the clinical trial results for Johnson & Johnson were released two months after the final dose was administered, and the study showed that the protective effect improved the longer the time elapsed after vaccination.

Osterholm said, "If we had tracked this for a few more months, this (Johnson & Johnson vaccine) would have been an equivalent vaccine, if not superior, to Moderna and Pfizer (vaccines)."

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has the advantage of being much more stable and can be stored longer in a regular refrigerator, making storage and distribution easier compared to Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Unlike Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only a single dose.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that it can approve the use of vaccines that are at least 50% effective and safe. For comparison, flu vaccines have a preventive efficacy of about 40-60%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.