WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A new vaccine is officially on the market in the US. The FDA gave Johnson & Johnson Emergency Use Authorization for their COVID-19 shot. Tens of thousands of doses were shipped out across the country Monday morning to arrive on Wednesday.
Johnson & Johnson's shot is a bit different than the other two available from Pfizer and Moderna. For starters, in clinical trials it offered slightly less protection than the other two. Wake Forest Baptist Health infectious disease expert. Dr. Christopher Ohl, said we shouldn't get hung up on that number.
"When you're looking at absolute efficacy numbers, they are a little bit hard to compare because Johnson & Johnson did their studies here in the United States in North America but also in South Africa, Brazil and there's a little bit of difference in penetration and variance and such," Dr. Ohl said.
He said a vaccine needs to accomplish two things. First, it should protect people from illness which all three do. Second, it needs to reduce transmission of the virus - something Johnson & Johnson's has proven to do.
He added, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine only takes one dose, meaning more people can get it faster. People are showing fewer side effects like fever and soreness than they are with the other two shots.
"I think that parsing it out and trying to shop around for a vaccine doesn't make much sense and the bottom line is, get the vaccine that you can when you can," Dr. Ohl said.
Dr. Ohl doesn't think we'll have our choice of vaccine manufacturer and, like other experts, said all three are good options. He's already received both doses of a COVID vaccine as a frontline health care worker but says if he hadn't already been vaccinated, he wouldn't hesitate to get Johnson & Johnson's shot.