Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail is pleased about the possibility of a new vaccine against COVID-19, even though it doesn’t appear to be as effective as those already being distributed.
The vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna have reported efficacy rates above 90-percent. Both require two doses. Recently, Johnson and Johnson announced a single dose vaccine that they say is about 66-percent effective against moderate to severe infection. The company also says it’s 85-percent effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
Health Officer Linda Vail is disappointed that the efficacy is lower, saying “and I think that’s going to cause some problems in the sense that people are going to say ‘I don’t want that vaccine, I want the other ones,’ and then how in the world are we going to manage all of that.”
Vail says having more vaccines available will help the nation reach herd immunity. She adds “if we get to that 80% range, even if we have some vaccines out there that are not as effective, we’ve got them mixed in, from 90-some to the other that’s lower, and so it’s a range, it’s a lot of people vaccinated and we can still reach that herd immunity even with that thrown into the mix.”
Johnson and Johnson says its vaccine doesn’t need to be stored at super-cold temperatures.