Johnson & Johnson: The Third Vaccine and How It’s Different From The Others

The Food and Drug Administration has passed its third emergency use vaccine authorization to the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. It has also been recommended by the CDC for use and the government is poised to begin its immediate distribution.

While both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine showed to have a decent number of similarities to make the use of one over the other almost irrelevant, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has a few more differences than its two former counterparts.

1. Dose: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose vaccine, unlike the other two which both require two doses to reach full efficacy. The plus side to this means that another visit to your physician is not necessary and no stress surrounding availability of the second dose. While there is talk of attempting to make the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines single dose, as of now, only Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has been cleared for single dose usage. Studies are currently underway to assess if two doses could provide more protection.

2. Efficacy: One of the clearest differences between the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against other vaccine on the US market: Moderna and Pfizer, and the global market: Janssen’s Vaccine is the efficacy rate. Both Moderna and Pfizer have an efficacy rate of 94–95% and show a real-world decrease of 94% of infections in those given both doses. Jenssen’s vaccine has shown to reduce 66% of moderate to severe cases and was shown to be 85% effective against severe cases and 100% effective at preventing death from the vaccine. After being tested on 43,000 people amongst the United States, Germany, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil, and Argentina, its efficacy rate was around 57% in South Africa where the new strain (B.1.351) is dominant and 72% in the US where the new strain is less common. Overall, despite efficacy, experts believe that this vaccine is competitive with the others because it provides adequate protection from serious illness, which is the main goal. However, with this in mind, it is important that public health authorities ensure that there are no disparities with this vaccine as some citizens will come to the conclusion that this vaccine is lower quality and will lead to mistrust if it is largely distributed in marginalized communities.

3. Protection: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides full protection against moderate to severe cases about four weeks after vaccination, this is competitive with both Moderna and Pfizer which only provide full protection two weeks after the second dose has been received, making it up to 6 weeks before full protection.

4. Technology: Unlike the Moderna or Pfizer which uses mRNA technology to directly deliver genetic material, the technology used for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses viral vector technology meaning it uses a weakened virus (a strain of the common cold called adenovirus 26, which has a similar structure to the coronavirus) that is genetically engineered so it can infect cells without the ability to replicate. This allows your body to recognize the structure in the case of infection and be able to create the antibodies necessary to fight against a real infection. It is important to note that this vaccine will NOT give you the cold or COVID as it is not genetically possible and, while different technology, still uses the same ideology in the passing of genetic information.

5. Handling: In contrast to both Moderna and Pfizer’s meticulous handling and specific refrigeration temperatures, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine needs only a standard refrigeration temperature and can last up to three months in storage, making it drastically easier to handle and distribute.

Regardless of the differences amongst all three vaccines one important similarity remains: they stimulate an incredible immune response in the receiver and have all shown to have little to no adverse reactions, and any reactions are quickly and easily treated.

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Reference:https://thewell.northwell.edu/covid/vaccine-myths-debunked