Fauci says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is useful in the fight against COVID-19 despite its lower efficacy

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Anthony FauciAnthony Fauci COVID-19 cases dropped, but variants point to dangers ahead First US cases of South African virus variant reported in South Carolina Fauci warns COVID-19 situation ‘possibly worse’ given new variants MORE, the government’s leading infectious disease expert, said Johnson & Johnson’s new COVID-19 vaccine is good news in the fight against the coronavirus, even though it has lower efficacy than other injections already in circulation.

“This is actually good news. It adds value to the whole effort to get more vaccine candidates into the mix, ”Fauci said Friday night on NBC News.

The comments come after Johnson & Johnson announced that its vaccine is 66 percent effective in preventing moderate or severe disease, a level of protection higher than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) minimum, but lower than the authorized Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are approximately effective. 95 percent of the time.

The effectiveness of the shot was 72 percent in the United States, but dropped to 57 percent in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant is rampant.

“Although the results in the United States showed 72 percent, it was a study that involved not only the United States, but South Africa and Brazil as well. Most importantly, protection against serious diseases was very high, even in South Africa, where the mutant is dominant, ”said Fauci.

“So even though the numbers compared to mild to moderate disease, 72 percent versus 94-95, are clearly 94-95 better,” he continued. “But from a practical point of view, what you want to do to keep people out of the hospital and prevent death, this is an added value.”

While the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is lower than its competitors, the company emphasized that its injection is 85 percent effective in preventing serious illness and 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization or death from 28 days after vaccination.

“One of the most important things you want to do is keep people out of the hospital. If you can also protect them from any kind of symptoms, that would be good, ”said Fauci. “Not so well against the early disease, but against the dire consequences, it’s done very well.”

Still, Johnson & Johnson may be facing what Fauci said could be a “messaging problem,” given the headline of efficacy lagging behind Pfizer and Moderna. And even if it is a single dose instead of two dose injection, people may be hesitant to take it.

“There may very well be people who actually prefer one dose,” Fauci said. ‘So I think it will be of use, even though … there may be one who would say,’ I want the one that has the best efficacy numerically. ‘That will happen, and that will be a messaging problem. “

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