Although the overall efficacy of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines is higher than the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should not wait until you have your choice of vaccine, which is likely a long way off anyway. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is nearly as good as the mRNA-based vaccines at preventing serious disease, and that's what really matters.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine and other viral-vector vaccines like the one from AstraZeneca are particularly important for the global vaccination effort. From a public health perspective, it's important to have multiple COVID-19 vaccines, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a very welcome addition to the vaccine arsenal. It doesn't require a freezer, making it much easier to ship and store. It's a one-shot vaccine, making logistics much easier compared with organizing two doses per person.
As many people as possible need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible to limit the development of new coronavirus variants. Johnson & Johnson is expected to ship out nearly 4 million doses as soon as Monday, March 1. Having a third authorized vaccine in the U.S. will be a big step toward meeting vaccination demand and stopping this pandemic.
Maureen Ferran is an associate professor of biology at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Ferran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.
Originally Published: Feb 26, 2021