Dr. Liam Sullivan may have more reason than most to be enthusiastic about approving the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
An infectious disease specialist for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Sullivan, participated in the clinical trials for the shot. He was told in December that he was part of the group that received the actual vaccination rather than a placebo, and that he was given the option to continue the study or get a Pfizer vaccine through Spectrum.
Sullivan chose to stay in the study.
“I am confident in the clinical trial that Johnson & Johnson performed and the protection of this vaccine,” Sullivan said.
Many share his enthusiasm. But the J&J vaccine has been scrutinized, especially after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said last week that he rejected a supply of J&J vaccines for the vaccinations in the city.
Detroit Mayor rejects 6,200 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines
In remarks Duggan has since stepped back, the mayor cited clinical trials that found a 95% efficacy rate for the Pfizer and Modern vaccines, compared to 67% for the J&J survey, adding: ‘I is going to do everything to ensure that the residents of the city of Detroit get the best. ”
Sullivan and other experts believe that this is an inaccurate characterization of the clinical trials and that it surpasses the clear benefits of the J&J vaccine.
“The J&J vaccine is not inferior,” said Dr Beth Wendt, director of clinical efficacy at McLaren Macomb Hospital. “There are a lot of good things about it.”
In the first place, the main differences between Pfizer, Moderna and J&J are compared, Sullivan said. One is that the J&J trial was done later than the other two, when COVID-19 variants emerged. And among the countries where J&J tested the vaccine were South Africa and Brazil, which have particularly problematic variants.
“Unlike Moderna or Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson have actual clinical trial data in South Africa and in Brazil against these variants,” Sullivan said.
Another factor is that it is difficult to do an apple-to-apple comparison for any vaccine or drug based on clinical trials, Sullivan said. ‘To put it head-on, you need identical patient populations with identical demographics in identical circumstances. Everything has to be the same, because otherwise we have a bunch of variables that you can not control. ”
Another thing to keep in mind, Sullivan and Wendt said, is that clinical trials have shown that the J&J shot was comparable to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to prevent severe cases of coronavirus leading to hospitalization or death could lead. The lower percentage for J&J was with respect to symptomatic diseases, including the more common mild cases.
Meanwhile, the J&J vaccine has some advantages over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, doctors say.
“It’s still very protective and much easier to give,” said Dr. Paul Entler, a vice president at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, said.
The biggest advantage: it requires only one shot instead of the two doses needed for those receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The single-shot regimen has several important implications: it means twice as many people can be fully vaccinated with the same amount of doses; it makes it much easier to vaccinate hard-to-reach populations such as people who are homeless or locked up, and it is much easier for providers who do not have to plan the following appointments.
It also means that more people are immune faster, a blessing for individual patients as well as communities who want to get herd immunity as quickly as possible. A recipient of the J&J vaccine is fully immunized two weeks after one shot, compared to the five- or six-week regimen with the other two vaccines.
In addition, the J&J vaccine has much easier storage and handling requirements than the doses of Pfizer and Moderna, which must be frozen and used quickly once thawed. By comparison, the J&J vaccine can be stored for up to three months in a regular refrigerator, making it much more suitable for use by doctors’ offices, Wendt said.
She also highlights another benefit of the J&J survey: because it uses a different biotechnology than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it is easier to manufacture them and to work them out to other companies.
“Plants that produce other vaccines can produce more easily (the J&J vaccine),” Wendt said. ‘It will enable the availability of this vaccine, which is good.
“When they open the floodgates for more age groups, we need to have a stock to fit in,” she said. ‘We’ll have to meet the demand. It can therefore help us to end the vaccination of the majority of our population, and give us normal life and end the pandemic. ”
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