Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Is Ready To Ship For Emergency Application
It’s almost the seventh week since the public COVID-19 vaccination began in America. With the same, a question has loomed over the disarrayed process – who should get the vaccination first? Debates have won over the elderly, the medically vulnerable, and essential workers, or maybe just anyone who is actually willing to get the vaccination. With other potential vaccines on the list, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is added to the discourse.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine didn’t get authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, but it would be released for emergency application after federal approval. The reason behind its non-approval is its efficiency. Johnson & Johnson is less effective than authorized Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The significant difference that has been noted that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine appears more convenient. It can be stored in a normal refrigerator and just require a single shot. Whereas, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines must be stored in special freezers at -70°Celsius and require two doses within a period of several weeks in between. But Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are 95% effective in preventing moderate to serious illness. At the same time, Johnson & Johnson’s rate was 72% in its U.S. trial and just 57% in South Africa, where the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 has led to a spike in cases.
Above all, it is important to note that epidemiologists still consider 72% efficacy is quite good, and there wasn’t a single death reported in Johnson & Johnson’s trial. Still, according to the history of systemic healthcare discrimination in the U.S., it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which certain communities feel aggrieved for only getting access to the “weaker” vaccine.
COVID-19 effect has also been noted on color communities. Nationwide, Black people have died 1.5 times more than white people, accounting for roughly 64,000 of the 4,56,000, according to the Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project. Indigenous Americans and Hispanic communities suffer higher death rates than white Americans.
There are several reasons for this discrimination and one among them is minority Americans are disproportionately essential workers, increasing their risk of exposure to the virus. In the case of vaccination, the Black Americans are also being vaccinated at lower rates than white Americans. According to a CDC report, published earlier this week, only 5.4% of Black Americans are vaccinated, among 13% of the overall population.
In this concern, Josh Michaud, associate director for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said “It’s going to be a challenging communications and operational endeavor to try and square all these circles”. It is important to raise a concern about new vaccines and how they will fit into the overall strategy. Each that we have, particularly Johnson & Johnson’s, has strengths and weaknesses that are remarkably different.
The key factor of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is it is apparently effective to an extent. In terms of preventing hospitalization, sparing people from serious COVID symptoms, and freeing up beds for patients with serious medical conditions, Johnson & Johnson still appears very effective. Above all, not a single person is reported to have died who took this vaccine.
“If your focus is reducing hospitalization and death, you take the vaccine you can get,” Jeffrey Levi, professor of health management and policy at George Washington University, said. “The best vaccine is the one you get in your arm,” he added.