CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was shipped Monday across the county and the Iowa Department of Public Health already plans to dedicate these doses specifically to front-line workers who work and live in congregated environments are unable to distance themselves socially.
In a call with health directors across the state, IDPH said it will dedicate more than 25,000 doses of the vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend. to those front-line workers who cannot distance themselves socially. as meat packers. But critics of the decision said those with less health equity in Iowa will now receive a possibly less effective dose of vaccine.
Although the Johnson & Johnson version, like the others, avoids hospitalizations and deaths, it did not prove such a strong test against moderate disease in the trials. However, the vaccine was tested against variants of COVID-19. Both Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines were not tested against variants.
Joe Henry, the political director of the League of Citizens of the United States of America in Iowa, said he was concerned that those workers, who are more likely to be a person of color, would receive a vaccine that does not protect either.
“When other essential workers get the other two previous vaccines that had the highest effectiveness rate and then Johnson & Johnson is given to people of color and to those of us in the Latino community,” Henry said. “That would be unfair,”
Herny also described the policy as racist because first aid and health workers will still get the other two versions of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said it dedicates doses to this group because Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine allows greater access to that population because it only needs one dose. Sarah Ekstrand, IDPH spokeswoman, said it also allows them to address other barriers such as language and transportation.
“Due to the lighter storage logistics and the fact that J&J only requires one dose, this ensures greater access for this population to the COVID-19 vaccine,” Ekstrand said. “In addition, by offering the vaccine to this priority population in their workplace, we are addressing language and transportation access barriers, as well as resolving the fact that many of these people may not have a provider of primary care “.
Ekstrand also said the department believed that anyone eligible to get vaccinated should do so now, regardless of brand. They are all very effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was shown to prevent hospitalization and death 100% of the time in clinical trials and was 85% effective in preventing serious virus disease. Influenza vaccines, for example, typically have about 60% effectiveness year after year, but they remain a key tool in stopping the spread of these viruses.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Sunday he would get a vaccine against Johnson & Johnson. He added that all three are very effective vaccines.
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