J&J vaccine contributes to the COVID-19 armor, includes the South African variant

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that the single-dose vaccine is 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a major global trial against several variants, giving health officials another weapon to tackle the pandemic.

Vials with a sticker that reads: “COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / injection only” and a medical syringe are displayed in front of a Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration on October 31, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / File Photo

In the trial of nearly 44,000 volunteers, protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 ranged from 72% in the United States to 66% in Latin America and only 57% in South Africa, from which a worrying variant spread.

The data showed that the effect of the vaccine on the South African variant decreased compared to the unchanged virus, but experts in infectious diseases and public health said that it could still help spread the virus and prevent deaths.

Data from Novavax at Midstage trial also showed lower efficiency in South Africa on Thursday.

Competitive shots from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna were both approximately 95% effective in preventing symptomatic diseases in the central trials when given in two doses.

These trials were conducted mainly in the United States and before the emergence of new variants. This means that the world is racing against time and with limited supplies as many people as possible are vaccinated, and quickly, to prevent virus outbreaks.

COVID-19 is increasing in 37 countries and infections have exceeded 101 million worldwide.

The top American infectious disease specialist, Anthony Fauci, said the world needs to get vaccinated quickly to try to achieve these changes in the virus.

“It’s really a wake-up call for us to be nimble and able to adapt, as this virus will surely continue,” Fauci said.

J & J’s main objective was the prevention of moderate to severe COVID-19, and the vaccine was 85% effective in stopping serious diseases and preventing hospitalization in all geographical areas and at various variants 28 days after vaccination.

It “will potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from the serious and fatal consequences of COVID-19,” said J&J Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels.

J & J shares declined 4% at $ 162.7 by 1700 GMT, and some Wall Street analysts said the vaccine’s effectiveness was lower than opponents. Moderna’s share rose 8% to $ 172.80.

APPLY APPROVAL

J&J plans to seek emergency use permission from the US Food and Drug Administration next week and will soon succeed the European Union and the rest of the world.

It is said that it plans to deliver 1 billion doses of the vaccine, which it will deliver in 2021 in the United States, Europe, South Africa and India.

Public health officials are counting on increasing the much-needed supply and simplifying vaccination in the United States, which has an agreement to buy 100 million doses of J & J’s vaccine and an option for another 200 million.

J&J said the vaccine would be ready immediately after emergency clearance, but Stoffels declined to say how many doses were available.

“The key is not just the overall effectiveness, but specifically the effectiveness against serious illness, hospitalization and death,” said Walid Gellad, associate professor of health policy at the University of Pittsburgh.

J & J’s vaccine uses a cold virus to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells and elicit an immune response, while the vaccines Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna use a new technology called messenger RNA.

Unlike these vaccines, J & Js do not require a second shot weeks after the first, or need to be frozen, making it a strong candidate for use in parts of the world where transportation and refrigeration problems arise.

‘Most countries are still desperate to get their hands on doses, regardless of whether the vaccine is considered very effective. Moderately effective will work well for the time being, ”said Michael Breen, director of infectious diseases and ophthalmology at the research firm GlobalData.

‘OVERWHELM’

Several studies have emerged this month showing that a South African variant has mutated in areas of the virus that are the main targets of vaccines, reducing its effectiveness.

“What we are learning is that there are different efficiencies in different parts of the world,” Stoffels told Reuters.

In a sub-study of 6,000 volunteers in South Africa, Stoffels said, the J&J vaccine was 89% effective in preventing serious diseases. In the South African part of the trial, 95% of the cases were infections with the South African variant.

“I am overwhelmed by the fact that even in South Africa, this vaccine is protected against serious diseases,” said Glenda Gray, the co-principal investigator of the South African vaccine trial.

In the J&J trial, which was conducted in eight countries, 44% of the participants were from the United States, 41% from Central and South America and 15% from South Africa. Just over a third of the volunteers were older than 60.

Reported by Julie Steenhuysen; Additional reporting by Manas Mishra, Dania Nadeem and Manojna Maddipatla in Bengalaru, Rebecca Spalding and Michael Erman in New York and Promit Mukherjee in Johannesburg; Writing by Alexander Smith; Edited by Peter Henderson, Edwina Gibbs, Keith Weir and Caroline Humer

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