The single shot coronavirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson has shown in Stage 3 clinical trials to be 66% effective in preventing the coronavirus, with higher effectiveness in treating severe cases of the virus, CNN reports.
The J&J vaccine is 85% effective against severe cases of coronavirus. The results are significantly lower than the two dual-dose vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, on the market now, which show 95% effectiveness in preventing the spread of the virus.
Even with the lower effectiveness, the single-shot vaccine may have utilization in the fight to control the spread of the virus, public health experts say, by lowering the utilization of health care services.
“If we can alleviate that, that is really important — not only with this candidate, but the others that have already gotten the EUA,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a call with reporters on Friday morning. “If you can prevent severe disease in a high percentage of individuals, that will alleviate so much of the stress and human suffering and death.”
According to CNN, the vaccine’s efficacy against moderate and severe disease ranged from one country to another: 72% in the US, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa. This was measured starting one month after the shot.