- One of the scientists who helped develop Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine applauded Johnson & Johnson’s new test results, though not as strong as her own.
- J&J announced on Friday that its COVID-19 vaccine was 72% effective in combating symptomatic infections in US trials, while Moderna’s was more than 94% effective at the same time.
- “Do not let the perfect wheel the good enough,” vaccine expert Kizzmekia Corbett said on Twitter.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A leading coronavirus vaccine scientist who has helped develop Moderna’s highly effective vaccine says Johnson & Johnson’s new test results, which suggest 72% efficacy for the single-shot vaccine in the US, appear. ” well.”
“Do not let the perfect get in the way well enough,” said Kizzmekia Corbett, scientific leader for coronavirus vaccines in the viral pathogenesis laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, posted on Twitter Friday.
Corbett was instrumental in the development of Moderna’s new mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, which (along with Pfizer’s vaccine) is one of two vaccines authorized for emergency use to combat the pandemic in the US.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna surveys are impressive vaccines that represent efficacy of over 94% in clinical trials of tens of thousands of people in the US and around the world.
According to a press release from J&J on Friday, the vaccine-enantovirus vaccine was 72% effective in limiting symptomatic COVID-19 infections in the US, 66% effective worldwide and 85% effective in preventing serious diseases.
“It’s very good for 1 dose … ‘in a pandemic,'” Corbett added.
J & J’s new vaccine is also cheaper, easier to manufacture and store, and faster to administer (just one shot) compared to Pfizer and Moderna.
Read more: How does Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine compare to shots from Pfizer and Moderna?
We are ‘spoiled’ by Pfizer and Moderna’s star results, Corbett said
Kizzmekia Corbett, senior research fellow and scientific leader for coronavirus vaccines in the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, speaks on March 3, 2020 with President Donald Trump, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins.
AP Photo / Evan Vucci
Corbett said she “feared” that humans would be “spoiled by the test results of mRNA” and that any other vaccine (such as J & J’s enterovirus vaccine) could be considered a “lesser” technology.
According to J&J, J & J’s shot is ‘good enough’.
Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Guide to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers recommends efficiencies ‘of at least 50%’, a measure that could easily clean up J & J’s new survey, both in the US and around the world.
As new variants spread rapidly, it can be another tool to stop deadly infections – even if they may not be as powerful as mRNA vaccines to completely stop diseases.
“In the vaccine group there were virtually no hospitalizations or deaths while in the placebo [non-vaccinated] group, was there, ‘said dr. Anthony Fauci, SU’s leading expert on infectious diseases, said during a press briefing in the White House on Friday, after J & J’s test results were announced.
“It really tells us that we now have an extra added vaccine candidate, who, of course, as with each candidate, will submit the details of their data to the FDA.”
The company says it will seek to apply for an emergency permit from the FDA next week.