Fauci says Johnson & Johnson vaccine is useful in fighting COVID-19 despite lower effectiveness

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Anthony FauciAnthony Fauci COVID-19 cases fall, but variants point to dangers ahead The first American cases of a variant of the South African virus reported in South Carolina Fauci warns that the situation of COVID-19 “could worsen” 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 coronavirus, although it is less effective than other shots that are already in circulation.

“It simply came to our notice then. It’s an added value to all the effort to get more vaccine candidates, ”Fauci told NBC News Friday night.

The comments come after Johnson & Johnson announced that its vaccine is 66% effective in preventing moderate or severe disease, a level of protection above the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) minimum, but lower than authorized Pfizer vaccines, and Modern, they are effective approximately 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 variant of the coronavirus is spreading.

“Although the results showed 72% in the United States, it was a study that involved not only the United States, but also South Africa and Brazil. The important point is that protection against serious diseases was very high, even in South Africa, where the mutant is dominant, ”Fauci said.

“So while the figures when compared to mild to moderate illness, it’s clear that 72% versus 94-95, it’s clear that 94-95 is 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 is an added value.”

Although the effectiveness of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is lower than that of its competitors, the company stressed that its shot is 85% effective in preventing serious illness and was 100% effective in preventing hospitalization or died from 28 days after vaccination.

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

Still, Johnson & Johnson may face what Fauci said could be a “messaging issue” given the title of its effectiveness that lags behind Pfizer and Moderna. And even if it’s a single-dose vaccine instead of requiring two, people may be reluctant to get it.

“There may be people who prefer to take a dose,” Fauci said. “So I think there will be utility, although … there may be someone who says, ‘I want what is numerically the best effectiveness.’ This will happen and this will be a messaging issue.”

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