Johnson & Johnson says its COVID vaccine is a “gamer-changer”
Johnson & Johnson has released the results of its phase three COVID-19 vaccine trial and plans to seek emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.Results demonstrated 85% protection against severe coronavirus disease in adults of all ages and racial groups 28 days after vaccination. The overall effectiveness rate for preventing moderate to severe illness was 72% in the U.S. and 66% across all countries studied, the pharmaceutical giant said. Benefits include that it only requires one dose — as opposed to Moderna and Pfizer’s two-dose inoculations — and that it can be stored in a regular refrigerator. “There’s no question that this vaccine is going to be a game-changer,” Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of pharmaceutical research and development for Johnson & Johnson, told CBS News’ Dr. Tara Narula. “The real-world effectiveness of this vaccine is apt to be very high.”The Phase 3 clinical trials included about 44,000 participants in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa. In all, 468 people contracted COVID-19 in the study, which looked at protection against both moderate and severe cases. No one who got the vaccine died of the disease.”What we mean by severe COVID is feeling particularly sick at home. That’s about 80% of the
