(Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)
Johnson & Johnson said Friday that its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine reduced rates of moderate and severe disease, but the shot appeared less effective in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant has become common.
Overall, the vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination. But efficacy differed depending on geography. The shot was 72% effective among clinical trial volunteers in the U.S, but 66% among those in Latin America, and just 57% among those in South Africa. Though markedly below the levels seen with the first two authorized COVID-19 vaccines, those rates are above the thresholds originally set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a vaccine to be considered useful.
This is the pandemic vaccine that can make a difference with a single dose, Dr. Paul Stoffels, the chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson, told the New York Times.
The New Jersey-based company plans to apply for an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early February. The vaccine could be authorized by the end of the month, helping to expedite the U.S. immunization effort.
The results of Johnson & Johnson s Phase 3 trial show the vaccine is 85% effective at preventing severe disease. None of the vaccinated study participants were hospitalized with COVID-19 after 28 days.
The vaccine proved effective among all adult age groups and did not prompt any safety concerns. But there were notable geographic differences.
Maternal COVID Antibodies Cross Placenta, Detected in Newborns medscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The state Department of Public Health is reporting that at least six cases of a COVID-19 variant first spotted in England are now here in Georgia. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge reports.
Caption A Walgreens pharmacist prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File
One of the most recent variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 disease is making news because it is more transmissible, according to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.
That means B.1.1.7 could infect and thereby kill more people, said Dr. Colleen Kraft, associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital and associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine.
Washington study finds pregnant patients with COVID-19 have a higher risk of death, hospitalization By Sandi Doughton, The Seattle Times
Published: January 28, 2021, 10:30am
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For the first several months of the pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assured pregnant patients they were in no greater danger from the novel coronavirus than anyone else.
It wasn’t until the agency analyzed national data last summer that they discovered pregnant people with COVID-19 appeared to be at higher risk for serious illness and hospitalization.
Now, a new study from Washington state confirms those results and also finds a much higher risk of death than previously reported, suggesting the peril to pregnant patients continues to be underestimated across the country.