A third U.S. vaccine could raise the question: Which pictures are best?

WASHINGTON – The country is ready to get a third vaccine against COVID-19, but at first glance Johnson & Johnson’s bullet may not be seen as equivalent to other options, health officials are questioning: which one is best?

If cleared for emergency use, the J&J vaccine would offer a one-dose option that could help speed up vaccinations, reducing a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in the US and stay ahead of a mutated virus.

“I think it’s going to be pretty big,” Drs. Virginia Caine, director of the public health department in Marion County, Indiana, which includes Indianapolis. She expects the easiest-to-use vaccine will give local officials more flexibility for mobile vaccine clinics or pop-up events.

The challenge will explain how resistant the J&J bullet is after the success of the first U.S. vaccines.

Two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna images were found to be approximately 95% effective against symbolic COVID-19. The numbers from the J&J study are not as high, but it is not an apple – to – apple comparison. One dose of the J&J vaccine had 85% protection against the harshest COVID-19. After placing in moderate cases, the overall efficiency dropped to about 66%.

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“I don’t think it’s a second-rate vaccine, but we need to avoid that view,” said Dr. Thomas Balcezak of Yale New Haven Health System.

The J&J picture has been tested in the US, Latin America and South Africa at a time when more infectious versions of the virus were spreading. That wasn’t the last fall, when Pfizer and Moderna were circulating a test, and it’s unclear whether their numbers would stand up against the most alarming of these variables.

Importantly, the Food and Drug Administration announced this week that, just as before, a J&J bullet offers strong protection against the worst results. By 28 days after the injection, there was no hospitalization or death in study volunteers with the J&J image, compared with 16 hospitalizations and seven deaths in those who received a shot.

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Independent advisers to the FDA on Friday considered J&J study data ahead of a vote on whether to recommend the vaccine widely, setting the platform for a final decision within days.

While J&J is seeking FDA approval for its single-dose version, the company is also investigating whether a second dose promotes protection.

Panel member Dr. Paul Offit warned that putting a two-dose version of the vaccine down the road could cause problems.

“You can see where that would make people think, ‘Maybe I didn’t get what I needed,'” said Offit, a vaccination specialist at Philadelphia Children ‘s Hospital. “It’s a messaging challenge.”

J&J representatives said they chose to start with the same picture because the World Health Organization and other experts agreed it would be a faster and more effective tool in an emergency.

U.S. cases and hospitals have fallen sharply from a peak in January after a holiday. But Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is concerned that new changes could outweigh these benefits and called for growing issues over the past three days.

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“We may have been infected with the virus, but clearly the virus has not been produced by us,” Walensky said at a White House briefing. It is too early to say whether this trend will continue. , she said adding a third vaccine “will help protect more people faster. “

If the J&J vaccine is authorized, U.S. officials expect only a few million doses for segregation of states in the first vessels. But by the end of March, J&J has said it can provide enough to vaccinate 20 million people – a much-needed energy for a stretched supply.

Bottom line: “Whatever vaccine is offered, you want it,” said University of Pennsylvania psychologist E. John Wherry.

However, the nuances of the vaccines raise ethical questions.

At Yale, Balcezak struggles with how to make the most of the benefits of J&J’s design without appearing to be targeting insufficient numbers. For example, it is a logical option for homeless shelters where people may have moved on before the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

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“I’m very concerned about how that would be seen,” Balcezak said.

The J&J vaccine is also easier to handle, lasts three months in the refrigerator compared to Pfizer and Moderna options, which need to be frozen.

In Washington state, health officials see a clear need for one-and-made vaccines – including sailors in the maritime industry, who can spend months on cargo and fishing vessels.

“This is the best vaccine for them,” said Dr. Scott Lindquist of the Washington State Department of Health. With the two-dose vaccines, the state had to “send second doses to the next call port.”

Other parts of the world are already facing the best challenges. Consider the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was approved for use in Britain and Europe after data showed it to be about 70% effective. Italy’s main teachers ’union recently protested when the government decided to preserve Pfizer and Moderna views for the elderly and name AstraZeneca vaccine for younger, at-risk workers. Canada became the newest country on Friday to allow the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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In the US, health officials say it is vital for the government to send a clear message.

“Right now, it’s not a vaccine against a vaccine, it’s a vaccine against a virus,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

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AP reporters Carla K. Johnson and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.

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The Department of Health and Science Associated Press is supported by the Science Education Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.