Only thirteen percent of Alabamians have been vaccinated at all against COVID-19. But, help may be on the way from Johnson and Johnson. The Alabama Department of Public Health says over forty thousand doses of the new J and J COVID vaccine are expected to arrive this week. Doctor Paul Goepfert is a vaccine researcher at UAB. He says the J and J vaccine is just as effective as the other products by Pfizer and Moderna.
“All work really well against severe COVID infection,” said Goepfert. “So, people who need to be hospitalized, people who need to be on the ventilator, and then it prevents people from dying.”
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine was judged to have only a sixty six percent rate of effectiveness. Goepfert says that’s because the Pfizer and Moderna products weren’t test against new variant strains of COVID and the J and J vaccine was.
“And the lowest was in South Africa, which was fifty seven percent,” he said. “But that’s the country that has this sort infamous strain, the B1351 strain, which is partly neutralization resistant to all the vaccines that are currently out there.”
Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine also requires only one dose and simpler refrigeration for storage. The Pfizer and Moderna products both need to be kept at significantly colder temperatures to remain effective.
