(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said Friday that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a major global test against multiple modifications, giving health officials another weapon to dealing with the pandemic.
In a trial of nearly 44,000 volunteers, the level of protection against moderate and severe COVID-19 ranged from 72% in the United States, to 66% in Latin America and just 57% in South Africa. from there a variety of concerns have spread.
The data showed that the effect of the vaccine on the South African strain has been reduced compared to the unchanged virus, but infectious disease and public health experts said it can still help spread the virus and prevention of deaths.
Midstage test data from Novavax on Thursday also recorded lower efficiency in South Africa.
Competitive indications from both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna were approximately 95% effective in preventing symptomatic disease in significant trials when administered in two doses.
These tests were mostly performed in the United States and before new changes emerged. These mean that the world is racing against time and with a limited supply to vaccinate so many people, and swiftly, to prevent viruses.
COVID-19 is on the rise in 37 countries and infections have surpassed 101 million worldwide.
U.S. leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said the world needs to be vaccinated urgently to try to keep up with these changes in the virus.
“It ‘s a real awakening for us to be quick and able to change because this virus will definitely continue,” said Fauci.
The main goal of J&J was to prevent moderate to severe COVID-19, and the vaccine was 85% effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization across all regions and against multiple. changes 28 days after vaccination.
“That could protect hundreds of millions of people from the deadly and deadly effects of COVID-19,” said Paul Stoffels, J & J’s chief scientific officer.
J&J shares were down 4% at $ 162.7 at 1700 GMT, with some Wall Street analysts saying the effectiveness of the vaccine was lower than that of competitors. Moderna stock gained 8% to $ 172.80.
INCLUDING
J&J plans to seek emergency use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next week and will soon join the European Union and the rest of the world.
They have said they plan to deliver 1 billion doses of the vaccine, which it will produce in the United States, Europe, South Africa and India, by 2021.
Public health officials are counting on him to increase much-needed supply and simplify vaccination in the United States, which has a contract to buy 100 million doses of J&J vaccine and an option for an additional 200 million .
J&J said the vaccine would be ready immediately upon emergency approval, but Stoffels declined to say how many doses it was.
“Not only overall effectiveness but especially effectiveness against serious disease, hospitalization and death,” said Walid Gellad, associate professor of health policy at the University of Pittsburgh.
The J&J vaccine uses a common cold virus to inject coronavirus proteins into cells and stimulate an immune response, but the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use a new technology called messenger RNA.
Unlike these vaccines, J&J does not require a second sight weeks after the first or must be kept frozen, making it a strong candidate for use in parts of the world where transportation and storage cold causing problems.
“Most countries are still keen to get doses, even if the vaccine is considered very effective. A moderately effective item at the moment, ”said Michael Breen, Director of Infectious Diseases and Ophthalmology at research firm GlobalData.
‘OVERVIEW’
Several studies have emerged this month showing that South African variants have surfaced in areas of the virus that are the main targets of vaccines, reducing their effectiveness.
“What we are learning is that efficiencies vary in different parts of the world,” Stoffels told Reuters.
In a sub-survey of 6,000 volunteers in South Africa, Stoffels said, the J&J vaccine was 89% effective in preventing serious disease. In the South African part of the trial, 95% of cases of the diseases were with the South African variant.
“I am disappointed that this vaccine protects against a serious disease even in South Africa,” said Glenda Gray, chief investigator of the South African vaccine trial.
In the J&J trial, conducted in eight countries, 44% of participants were from the United States, 41% from Central and South America and 15% from South Africa. Just over a third of the volunteers were over 60.
Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Additional commentary by Manas Mishra, Dania Nadeem and Manojna Maddipatla in Bengalaru, Rebecca Spalding and Michael Erman in New York and Promit Mukherjee in Johannesburg; Written by Alexander Smith; Edited by Peter Henderson, Edwina Gibbs, Keith Weir and Caroline Humer