INDIANAPOLIS — In the global war against COVID-19, is the Johnson & Johnson vaccine really the game changer many are counting on?
"I'm thinking nearly definitely a game changer," said Dr. Paul Calkins, associate chief medical officer for IU Health. "It's a darn good vaccine."
But test results show the yet-to-be-approved vaccine is significantly less effective than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines being used now. They stop the coronavirus about 95 percent of the time. Overall, Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine prevented moderate to severe COVID-19 two out of three times, or 66 percent.
It was 72 percent effective in the United States and only 57 percent effective against South Africa's more aggressive strain of the virus.
"This stuff is better than a flu vaccine," Calkins said. "Flu vaccines vary between 40 and 60 percent overall, so it is better than that.
Perhaps more importantly, the pharmaceutical company found 85 percent of the time, the vaccine prevented severe cases of the virus that result in hospitalizations and deaths.
"What that is saying, you could still get COVID-19 but it isn't going to kill you and you are not going to wind up in the intensive care unit," Calkins said.
Moderna and Pfizer require two shots. Their vaccines must be shipped and stored at freezing temperatures before being thawed out for use.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot and can be stored in a regular refrigerator.
"The fact that it's a one dose vaccine makes it infinitely easier to give to people. It is the kind of thing you could throw in a cooler and take to a church or a factory. And if you don't use it up, just leave it in the cooler so you don't waste," Calkins said.
If given emergency approval and if enough doses are produced, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would help clinics vaccinate more people with less work and less time. That could increase the chances of reaching President Biden's goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days.