This article is completely incorrect in regards to the headline stating the Moderna vaccine is not effective against South African variant. Plus the article pushes out of context information on the effectiveness of the vaccine in the elderly. This is what happens when you use the Russian Kremlin propaganda outlet, Zero Hedge, for your news source. Of course, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines -- which are 95% effective -- are much more effective than the vaccines coming out of Russia & China which only have 50% to 78% effectiveness. Of course the state media of Russia and China have gone to great lengths to tear down western COVID vaccines because they want to use their own vaccines to project power across the globe. Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine protects against new UK and South African variants but plans to test new booster shot https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-against-uk-south-africa-variants/6698624002/ Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine protects against two variants of the coronavirus that have emerged from Britain and South Africa, according to a company study. In a statement Monday, Moderna said the vaccine triggered an immune response to “all key emerging variants,” including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which were first identified in the U.K. and South Africa, respectively. While the study showed no changes immune response to the U.K. variant compared to the original coronavirus, the vaccine produced a weaker immune response to the South African variant. Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said "out of an abundance of caution," the company is developing a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine that could combat the South African variant and future emerging ones. “As we seek to defeat the COVID-19 virus … we believe it is imperative to be proactive as the virus evolves,” he said in the company news release. The booster candidate, mRNA-1273.351, will advance into preclinical studies and Phase 1 trial in the U.S. Public health experts say the variants from the U.K. and South Africa transmit at a higher rate, leading to more infections and more deaths. British scientists concluded that the U.K. variant, which was first detected in the country in September, spread 30%-70% faster than the previous dominant coronavirus strain. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Friday it also may be about 30% more deadly than previous versions of the disease. The South African variant has yet to be discovered in the United States, but the Biden administration isn’t taking any chances. On Sunday, Reuters reported President Joe Biden will impose a travel ban. “We are adding South Africa to the restricted list because of the concerning variant present that has already spread beyond South Africa," Anne Schuchat, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention principal deputy director, is quoted by Reuters. Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called Biden's decision “prudent” Monday in a round of television interviews. “We have concern about the mutation that’s in South Africa," Fauci told "CBS This Morning." "We’re looking at it very actively. It is clearly a different and more ominous than the one in the U.K., and I think it’s very prudent to restrict travel of noncitizens.” He warned that more mutations are possible and said scientists are preparing to adapt the vaccines if necessary. Last week, Biden moved to expand on the CDC requirement and direct that federal agencies require international travelers to quarantine upon arrival in the U.S. and obtain another negative test to slow the spread of the virus.
Johnson & Johnson set to report COVID-19 trial data on one-dose vaccine by next week https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/26/johnson-johnson-set-report-covid-19-trial-data-one/ Johnson &Johnson said Tuesday it will report the results of its coronavirus vaccine trial by next week, potentially placing the immunization campaign on a speedier trajectory as economies reel and nations tighten their borders against fast-moving variants. U.S. officials are desperate to gain approval of J&J’s one-dose vaccine as the pandemic claims thousands of lives per day and governors clamor for more supply. “We plan to report out by early next week in terms of our results,” J&J Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk told CNBC as he discussed fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations. “It’s a very robust, 45,000-person study across eight countries in three different continents,” he said. “We do have some of these new strains potentially captured in our data as we had sites in South Africa as well as Brazil. So we’ll let the scientists do their work there.” Mr. Wolk said J&J plans to offer a robust supply of the vaccine, including 100 million doses to the U.S. by the end of June, 200 million to the European Union by the end of the year and 200 million doses to developing countries, which will begin shipping in the second half of the year. Governors are pushing the federal government to ship more doses to their states so they can vaccinate a broader range of residents and bring the pandemic to manageable levels. Immunization professionals say they’re in a tough spot, as counties compete for doses and weigh questions of geographic distribution and equity. “Governors want to set up some of these large-scale events. If they do it, it’s taking doses away from a smaller community,” Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, told The Washington Times. “They’re having to make difficult decisions. They don’t want to over-promise.” President Biden says he’s going to push for 1.5 million shots per day, a 50% increase over his initial pledge to average 1 million daily shots over the first 100 days of his presidency. The decision reflects pressure to set his sights higher, since the country averaged 1.25 million doses per day over the last week, according to a Bloomberg News tracker. Makers of the two approved vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, say they’re running at full capacity, so the U.S. likely needs new vaccines to come online to set even more ambitious goals. Officials are keen on J&J’s vaccine because it requires only one dose, obviating the thorny logistics of getting people to return for a second dose. As it stands, states also have to balance their supply of the Pfizer and Moderna versions for second-dose recipients against those seeking first-round protection. It’s unclear whether phase 3 trial results from J&J will match the 95% efficacy reported by the messenger RNA vaccines that were approved in December, but even a rate approaching that could put a dent in the pandemic. “We continue to progress our COVID-19 vaccine candidate and look forward to sharing details from our Phase 3 study soon,” J&J CEO Alex Gorsky told investors. “Johnson & Johnson was built for times like these, and I am extremely confident in our ability to deliver lasting value and continued innovation in 2021 and for years to come.”
Most Americans are not even on the list to receive vaccinations yet. Hopefully this will be available soon for those folks. This is the one to get if you’re so inclined.
Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine 66% effective in global trial, company says Johnson & Johnson on Friday said its single-shot coronavirus vaccine was 72% effective in preventing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in the U.S, but fell to 66% in a larger trial conducted worldwide. The results stem from a Phase 3 ENSEMBLE clinical trial, which involved 43,783 participants. The shot was found to be 66% effective in preventing moderate-to-severe illness in Latin America, and 57% effective in South Africa at 28 days post-vaccination. When the company only looked at severe cases, protection rose to 85%. J&J’s vaccine differs from currently approved jabs in the U.S. in that it requires a single shot as opposed to two doses, and was created using an adenovirus rather than mRNA technology More at... https://www.foxnews.com/health/johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-66-effective-global-trial
Seeing that a 50% effectiveness implies a vaccine is useless. A 66% effectiveness is not very good. The Chinese vaccines claim an effectiveness of 78% but have been found to be only 51% effective in Brazil. This implies the J&J vaccine is less effective than the highly criticized vaccine coming out of China.
Theyre trialing a booster time see if there is an increase in effectiveness. The 85% effectiveness against severe illness is a big, Big good number. That means the placebo group had ~7 times more severe cases. I’d like to see the age and health data on those that got severe illness. I think this vaccine would be useful for the 18-45 age group without underlying conditions. As to South African and Brazilian strains, it’s even more of a reason to stop the “wild” strain and all other strains before this thing mutates more.
I think we have to keep in mind that J and J is mixing marketing strategy in with their product research. They see a big need for a single dose vaccine and that is how they want to position themselves for all the obvious reasons. So, what I am getting at is that a vaccine can come up short or marginal as a single dose vaccine but turn out to be a crackerjack as 2 dose vaccine. Not sure we or they know yet what the efficacy of a 2 dose regimen would be.