Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans on Sunday not to resist a specific vaccine against COVID-19, saying all three on the market are “safe and effective.”
“We must escape this chain of thought. The only way to really know the difference between vaccines is to compare them head to head, ”Fauci said said ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos in “This Week.”
“We have three highly effective vaccines that are safe and effective. That is the conclusion.”
The White House chief medical officer said the newest option – the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – has features that “we really care about being important,” while showing lower effectiveness than the Modern and Pfizer vaccines.
“It has an efficiency of more than 85% [preventing] serious illness and critical illness, and there were no deaths or hospitalizations in any of the countries that were tested, ”Fauci said.
Comparing the J&J vaccine with the other two authorized vaccines is tricky, as their trials present significant differences, according to Fauci.
The J&J trial showed an efficacy of about 66 percent against moderate to severe COVID-19, while those from Pfizer and Moderna focused on mild to moderate disease and showed an efficacy of 95 to hundred in the prevention of the disease.
The J&J trial was also conducted later and in regions where new highly contagious variants were circulating.
“I think we need to move away from this comparison and analysis of numbers until you compare them from head to toe. Be very grateful to have three effective vaccines, ”Fauci said.
In an independent interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Fauci said he would not hesitate to take the J&J vaccine if it were the option at his disposal.
“If you go to a place and have J&J, and that’s what’s available now, I’d take it. I personally would do the same,” Chuck Todd told host on Sunday.
“I think people need to be vaccinated as quickly and quickly as possible. And if I went to a place where they had J&J, I wouldn’t have any hesitation in taking it. “