Maureen Ferran, Rochester Institute of Technology
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in adults. Maureen Ferran, a virologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology, explains how this third authorized vaccine works and explores the differences between it and the Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines that are already in use.
1. How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work?
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a viral vector vaccine.
To create this vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus – the viral vector – and replaced a small piece of its genetic instructions with coronavirus genes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
After this modified adenovirus is injected into someone’s arm, it enters the person’s cells. The cells then read the genetic instructions needed to make the spike protein and the vaccinated cells make and present the spike protein on their own surface. The person’s immune system then notices these foreign proteins and makes antibodies against them that will protect the person if they are ever exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in the future.
The adenovirus vector vaccine is safe because the adenovirus can’t replicate in human cells or cause disease, and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can’t cause COVID–19 without the rest of the coronavirus.
This approach is not new. Johnson & Johnson used a similar method to make its Ebola vaccine, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is also an adenovirus viral vector vaccine.
2. How effective is it?
The FDA’s analysis found that, in the U.S., the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was 72% effective at preventing all COVID-19 and 86% effective at preventing severe cases of the disease. While there is still a chance a vaccinated person could get sick, this suggests they would be much less likely to need hospitalization or to die from COVID-19.
A similar trial in South Africa, where a new, more contagious variant is dominant, produced similar results. Researchers found the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be slightly less effective at preventing all illness there – 64% overall – but was still 82% effective at preventing severe disease. The FDA report also indicates that the vaccine protects against other variants from Britain and Brazil too.
3. How is it different from other vaccines?
The most basic difference is that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is an adenovirus vector vaccine, while the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are both mRNA vaccines. Messenger RNA vaccines use genetic instructions from the coronavirus to tell a person’s cells to make the spike protein, but these don’t use another virus as a vector. There are many practical differences, too.
Both of the mRNA-based vaccines require two shots. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only a single dose. This is key when vaccines are in short supply.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine can also be stored at much warmer temperatures than the mRNA vaccines. The mRNA vaccines must be shipped and stored at below–freezing or subzero temperatures and require a complicated cold chain to safely distribute them. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be stored for at least three months in a regular refrigerator, making it much easier to use and distribute.
As for efficacy, it is difficult to directly compare the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with the mRNA vaccines due to differences in how the clinical trials were designed. While the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are reported to be approximately 95% effective at preventing illness from COVID–19, the trials were done over the summer and fall of 2020, before newer more contagious variants were circulating widely. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines might not be as effective against the new variants, and Johnson & Johnson trials were done more recently and take into account the vaccine’s efficacy against these new variants.
4. Should I choose one vaccine over another?
Although the overall efficacy of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines is higher than the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should not wait until you have your choice of vaccine – which is likely a long way off anyway. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is nearly as good as the mRNA-based vaccines at preventing serious disease, and that’s what really matters.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine and other viral-vector vaccines like the one from AstraZeneca are particularly important for the global vaccination effort. From a public health perspective, it’s important to have multiple COVID-19 vaccines, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a very welcome addition to the vaccine arsenal. It doesn’t require a freezer, making it much easier to ship and store. It’s a one-shot vaccine, making logistics much easier compared with organizing two doses per person.
As many people as possible need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible to limit the development of new coronavirus variants. Johnson & Johnson is expected to ship out nearly four million doses as soon as the FDA grants emergency use authorization. Having a third authorized vaccine in the U.S. will be a big step towards meeting vaccination demand and stopping this pandemic.
Maureen Ferran, Associate Professor of Biology, Rochester Institute of Technology
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Something from the UK – The 2020 death statistics
“the 2020 death statistics (as tallied by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries) indicate that of the 71,200 excess deaths recorded since the pandemic begun,”
Latest News – Lockdown Sceptics
“46,721 of these must be attributed to lockdown measures”
“though 73,512 people died in 2020 with COVID-19, as was admitted by Professor Neil Ferguson before the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on 25th March, 66% of people who died of coronavirus in 2020 would have died from other causes that year and thus would not figure in the 71,200 excess death figure for that year”
“A Professor at Bristol University has forecast that the Government’s response to COVID-19 (to November 2020) will ultimately kill 560,000 UK citizens. Many other studies have supported such predictions and, consequently, the WHO has advised that lockdown policies should not be adopted.”
Sad to see WUWT become a hang-out for anti-vaxxers
Sad, but predictable
The vaccine is not necessary.
PCR tests have been administered at 45 CTs (cycle threshold). Any PCR tests administered at more than 34 CTs renders the PCR test useless, as the accuracy is only 3%. That’s a 97% false positive rate.
PCR tests were not designed to be used as a diagnostic tool, as these tests cannot distinguish between “live” vruses and inactive (noninfectious) viral particles like the common cold. If you ever had a cold this test will show a positive result. PCR testing also cannot confirm that the 2019-nCoV is the causitive agent for clinical symptoms of COVID-19. If you ever had a cold in your life, the PCR test will return a positive result for COVID-19.
Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR test, repeatedly stressed that the PCR test should not be used as a diagnostic tool, and was noted in a U.S. CDC publication on 07/13/2020.
One hour after the Biden inauguration, the World Health Organization lowered the recommend PCR test cycle threshold (CT) from 45 cycles to 35 cycles. COVID-19 cases will now plummet.
I find that most interesting.
Thanks, Ron!
There seem to be a number of hysterical old folks running around, trying to tell we must obey or be condemned to eternal damnation! I am happy to take vaccines that are necessary and have been properly tested like the tetanus vaccine; I just don’t see any reason to one that is neither!
Do you think lowering the CT to 35 cycles will be enough to eliminate most of the false positives, or would it be better to use a different type of test?
PCR is not a diagnostic tool. Do not use it as such.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-scandal-breaking-merkel-germany/5731891
I’m in the “at risk” age group but have always been very active and eat right. My annual blood tests are all normal and no co-morbidities. I had an asymptomatic case of CV in Oct and really only felt a little tired for one day. I’ve taken bromelain, Vit D, Zn and a daily multivitamin since this all started which may have resulted in the asymptomatic case, but can’t say for sure.
I’ve taken the the 1st shot of the Pfizer vaccine and will have #2 in less than 2 weeks, primarily because I feel if I want to go to sporting events in the future the idiots running the country will require proof of vaccination. I had no effects on the 1st shot other than I’m starting to grow an additional finger and hope shot #2 doesn’t make my hair fall out. I’m sure since I already had CV my immunity is as good or better than what a vaccine will give me, but as they say in the modern vernacular, WTF.
I have posted this before. This is being ignored especially in Canada due to TDS. Ivermectin is likely better that the vaccines which are rated at 60-70 percent:
There are now over 200 studies mostly peer reviewed listed below:
200 studies with 135 peer reviewed on HCQ, Ivermectin, Vitamin D, and Zinc:
https://c19study.com/
166 studies:
https://hcqmeta.com/
Thanks, Gerald!
I’m afraid a lot of the commenters are running around in circles with their hair on fire this morning so they will likely ignore your links, but I will definitely check them out!
India is doing great using ivermectin
Am I correct in understanding that these vaccines are still in Phase 3 trials, and these trials to continue until 2023?
YES
All three vaccines cause the recipient’s cells to produce and display viral spike proteins on their surfaces. B-cells and T-cells then react to the foreign proteins and make anti-bodies.
The problem I wonder about comes from the co-location of native and foreign proteins on the cell surface. B-cells and T-cells activated by cell-surface viral spike protein may make anti-bodies against neighboring native proteins as well. It would not take very many such events to trigger an autoimmune reaction.
Autoimmune triggers are auto-catalytic. The cascade operates in the background, becoming slowly more intense. They take some time to advance into a noticeable acute stage.
How likely is a covid vaccine recipient to later develop some autoimmune problem from these vaccines? The problem could emerge into an acute stage many years later.
Demand open peer-review of those vaccine trials. Write those critical comments in the open review. People need to ask those valid questions and vaccine developers must be obliged to respond to those important queries. Reviewers always play a very important role.
Yup. It is intended to trigger an autoimmune disease. The worst idea of all times. Also against Hippocratic oath.
That is probably one of the problems that happened with the mice 2008-2011 which the SARS vaccine. In humans may take a lot longer before the problem surface. Probably wise to be careful ….
Just had my jab today: Astra-Zeneca. Well organised local mass vaccine centre… brilliant NHS organisation. In and out in 20 minutes or less.
How about a discussion on ivermectin? If used a vaccine may not be needed.
Here is a very good article.
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/laurent-mucchielli/blog/250221/pourquoi-l-ivermectine-est-probablement-le-meilleur-traitement-de-la-covid
Been following this closely, because my significant other almost died from anaphylactic shock, which is an unfortunate side effect in some people with both Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines, including the death of one physician.
JJ Jansen is a very interesting platform, based on the acquisition of the Dutch firm that developed it over a decade. Based on a human common cold adenovirus, modified so that it will multiply in bioreactors filled with immortal human epithelial (lung) cells developed in Japan, BUT not in the human body. That confers precise viral vector dose control. Is known safe, because also the basis for JJ shingles vaccine as well as Ebola. One shot efficacy as good or better than one shot Moderna or Pfizer: about 70% no symptoms, about 85% no severe symptoms, and 100% ( in clinical trials) no hospitalizations. About 65% no symptoms against UK and SA variants. We will get it when available, likely April or May by which time JJ says will have made 100 million doses.
As of now the J&J vaccine has been shown to be effective, based on trials, in protecting 2 out of 3 people. And it is certainly true that it is important to get the covid vaccines (of all kinds) out as broadly to as many people as possible. Requiring a single dose only is a significant advantage in making the vaccine available to a lot of people. Based on the math, doing this could leave a significant number of people receiving the J&J vaccine at risk, i.e. the 1 out of 3 who take the J&J vaccine but in whom it is not effective. “Therefore, in doing this a lot more people will be protected and a whole bunch of people will believe they are protected but are not … and importantly you don’t know in advance who is not protected until they contract the virus! One of the key principles of the Hippocratic Oath is for the doctor to “do no harm” …. seems there is a fuzzy line here in leaving a significant absolute number of patients open to infection who are led to believe they are being protected by vaccination… and the doctor is FULLY AWARE of the risks involved. I am very happy I am halfway through Pfizer vaccinations (second shot on Friday of this week) which are known to be 95% effective (compared to the J&J vaccine which may only be 67% effective !! If I were a physician I would not be happy being the card dealer in this game of lotto.
Between the Diamond Princess cruise ship and the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier out of the approximately 8,000 people on board those two ships about 10% ended up with Covid-19 symptoms. That would indicate that the natural immune system was 90% effective at preventing illness. Compare that to the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” which doesn’t appear to be all that effective.
The 90% weren’t tested for antibodies, so we can’t know how many asymptomatic cases there may have ben.
Re:” Should I choose one vaccine over another?”
I feel this question was inadequately addressed by the original article, and consequently similarly neglected in at least one very important respect in this discussion: the likelyhood of getting a totally ineffective injection.
I haven’t compared all of the available Covid-19 vaccines, but I have noted that the Pfizer vaccine offers an unbelievable number of ways you could get injected with a dud without knowing it until too late. Let me number the ways:
first:
a problem with the refrigeration of the sealed bottles in transit. It’s conceivable that a shipment’s temperature could rise above the allowed temperature range, otherwise there would be no need for the monitors included. Is it conceivable that someone not wanting to write off thousands of dollars worth of product would call ‘three second rule’? You bet!
second:
The sealed product has to be properly thawed out and then carefully stirred, not shaken, ten times. If it gets dropped or otherwise shaken, it’s to be discarded. Well maybe…
third:
Now exactly 1.8ml of diluent must be added to the .45ml already in the bottle. Nothing could go wrong there. Right?
fourth:
1.8ml of air must be extracted from the bottle to equalize the pressure. I’ve watched video of the first Canadians getting this vaccine, and saw the injectible streaming down the outside of the needle while the ‘health professional’ was drawing the .30ml dose from the vial. That’s what you can expect if you’ve got compressed air in the vial, turn it upside down, and stick a needle through the membrane.
I’m sure they didn’t get 5 doses out of that vial. But what happens when there are no cameras present? Well, the diluent is cheap and available in unlimited quantities. And hey, what difference is a little more dilution going to make?
fifth:
After dilution there’s a second opportunity to shake instead of stirring the injectible.
sixth:
Draw 0.30ml while avoiding bubbles, since the stuff is too valuable to squirt the air out.
seventh:
Inject all the doses in the vial within a 6 hour period. Three second rule!
eighth:
Store the unopened, undiluted vials in a refrigerator at -30C for no more than two weeks. I’m sure we can all trust our pharmacists and their staff to toss out any vials that warmed up due to a brief power failure, or refrigerator glitch. Can’t we?
I just had my first dose of Pfizer yesterday, and was quite impressed with the system Virginia has set up – and I mean, end to end, from registering on-line through receiving the shot. I estimate that the operation I visited is vaccinating about 7,800 people a day (1.5% of the county I live in).
I’m 66, retired, and have every risk factor for a bad outcome except diabetes. My wife works for a contractor who supports a federal government agency, and though she’s not in a high risk group, she’s already fully vaccinated.
In fact, we have dodged a few bullets this past year, having stayed at the homes of relatives who, upon our departure, came down with COVID-19. I feel immense optimism for the first time in a long time.
Israel has done more high-quality research on the actual effects of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and both were found to be highly effective even with one dose – and even with people who already had COVID-19. Again, I am optimistic.
I hope the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is accepted, and gets out there quickly. The company certainly has production capability to pump out massive amounts of whatever it chooses, and the more people vaccinated, the quicker this nightmare will be over.
In a comment on another forum, I threw in a “fun fact”: Johnson & Johnson was originally Johnson & Johnson & Johnson, but Johnson became restless, and went into business for himself. A perceptive commenter corrected me: Johnson, as it turns out, is still there. It was Johnson who left. I verified independently that he was right, and just wanted to note that here.
Worldwide cases were dropping fast since end December (assuming the dip over the holiday period is because of a drop in testing not cases) so presumably not due to the vaccines.
Quite a lot of countries around the world now seem to be on the rise again. I see Israel also possibly increasing; do they have one of the highest % vaccinated? I estimate about 40% had 1st jab by 22 days ago which I’m guessing is how long it takes 1st jab to be effective. Should that plus those already previously infected, in theory according to the experts be enough to prevent cases rising there?
Is there enough vaccine rollout now to judge from this current new rise in cases in various countries (if real) if the vaccine is working or not at preventing the virus?
Some weeks ago it was announced (here IIRC) that the WHO had revised its recommendations for PCR testing to diminish the number of test cycles. Strangely, I haven’t seen this mentioned on any of the news broadcasts from six countries that I watch most days. Nor have I seen a link to this WHO report.
But from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, reducing the number of PCR cycles will definitely reduce the number of new “cases”.
It’s impossible to say how much, since testing agencies are not required to report the number of PCR cycles they use in their tests here in Canada, there is no standard, and a reported 16 private testing labs, in addition to all of the governmental ones.
Can anyone here throw some light on this?
.
Details of the 2 WHO memos, and links, in my post above
Thanks for your links and your post.
I haven’t seen anything about changing the cycles, but I read that WHO changed the guidelines to require TWO positive tests to be considered a “case”, vs the previous single positive. IIRC that was around January 8.
The mRNA vaccines were an utter failure in the SARS/MERS pandemic when animals were inoculated. This time Fauci (AKA Joey Mengele) says bedamn those animals . Let’s test it out on humans. Will be inoculating our kids in 2022. Don’t be a guinea pig. Amazing therapeutics are near approval for even severe to critical patients, for those with Long Haulers Syndrome and mild to moderate Covid symptoms that are far better than anything approved by the FDA at this time. I concur with others that Ivermectin has a significant benefit as well as HCQ in very early symptomatic patients but these monoclonal antibodies and vasoactive peptide will transform therapeutic intervention. Don’t be a Fauci guinea pig.
So if and when I go in to get the vaccine (and its going to quite a while until I do) do I get a choice of vaccines?
Not in the UK
Regardless of manufacturer, no poison for me. The covid fraud and associated fear porn has gone on long enough
All this talk of people dropping dead when injected with one of these vaccines!!!
Here is a link to the UK medicines regulator website containing results of ‘Yellow Card’ reports.
In the UK, everyone is encouraged to report medical events that occur after taking a drug or vaccine.
The link is for the period 9 December 2020 to 14 February 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting
If you bother to read it, it tells of deaths. Yes that’s right, they tell you all they know:
“The MHRA has received 197 UK reports of suspected ADRs to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in which the patient died shortly after vaccination, 205 reports for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine and 4 where the brand of vaccine was unspecified.”
But as the report informs us, when 20 million are vaccinated, a natural number of deaths will always occur – whether vaccinated or not.
Have a look. Check the site for other medicines to see how your favorite is performing.
Here is the list of events reported:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/964208/COVID-19_AstraZeneca_Vaccine_Analysis_Print__2_.pdf
Here is the link to the AZ phase 3 study results: https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2932661-1
Author Alex Berenson’s Twitter feed is worth following to get more complete information about Covid-19 vaccines. He’s not an anti-vaxxer and uses data from official sources. Spoiler alert: For the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, actual efficacy is less than advertised and adverse events are worse.
Interestingly, if you die after testing positive for Covid then you are counted as a Covid death. But if you die after having the Covid vaccine then you are counted as having died from some other cause.
According to the CDC about 1000 people have now died after having the Covid vaccination. The real number is likely to be far higher as the reporting of these deaths is voluntary. The narrative we are being fed is that these people all happened to die from something else just after being vaccinated and we shouldn’t be concerned.
Or simply take vitamin d supplement at the rate of 1000 iu per 25 lbs of bodyweight per day. Dr Fauci apparently knew about it and he takes 6000 iu a day.
I am not an anti Vaxer in general. However many here seem to be careful for good reason without really knowing why. Here is the reason.
after SARS and Mers in the beginning of this century, efforts were made to make a vaccine just like the ones we have today. But those vaccines did prime the immune system so later on when infected it actually got worse. Maybe not first or second time but eventually it did. Ok, it was prepared mice, so not exactly the same but caution should not be overly critisized. I will continue the d3 + zinc + quercetin + melatonin line which I started late January 2020.
If the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines exhibit efficacy rates of 95% (approximately) and the Johnson x2 exhibits 85% (approximately), why not be vaccinated by the best available? When I was in school, long ago before pass/fail grading, 95% would receive an A- grade and 85% would receive a B grade.
(Alas I know, I was usually one of those getting the B or B+ grades!)
UK Gov website illustrates the vaccines do not stop you catching, passing on or dying of covid. At best they might reduce your symptoms- A hot toddy and bath will probably have the same efect.