New Vaccines Battle Covid Variants, Offering Cautious Optimism

Johnson & Johnson Inc. and Novavax Inc. made strong cases Friday for their game-changing capacity to help curb the spread of Covid-19 even as new versions of the novel coronavirus keep public health officials, and the public, on edge.

Taken together, the data suggests that Covid variants make all vaccines slightly less effective, but they still put the country on a much faster track to stopping the worst cases of the respiratory disease.

The one-shot J&J vaccine candidate is on track for FDA approval in March after clinical trial data showed it prevented 66% of moderate to severe cases of Covid. That’s a lower efficacy than 90%-plus prevention rate shown by the Pfizer Inc./BioNTech and Moderna Inc. shots, but it appears to be on par with those vaccines’ ability to battle different variants of the virus.

Read: J&J Vaccine Provides Strong Shield Against Severe Covid (5) and Covid Vaccines May Need Adjusting to New Strains, Scientists Say

Novavax’s global clinical trial of its two-shot vaccine showed 89.3% efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in the United Kingdom, but the rate dropped to 60% among HIV-negative participants in South Africa, where the newest virus variant is most prevalent. Novavax is still running clinical trials in the U.S., but the FDA could grant an emergency approval of the vaccine based on data from other countries.

Read: Novavax Soars After Upbeat Results From Covid Vaccine Trial (4)

J&J’s trial data also offered an important, and stunning, statistic: It’s 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death from the virus. That could make all the difference for struggling hospitals that are at intensive-care capacity and virtually halt new “long-hauler” cases—Covid survivors who experience after-effects like shortness of breath and weakness for months. Long haulers typically had severe Covid-19 that required hospitalization and a week or more of being intubated with a ventilator.

Read: ‘My Brain’s Not as Sharp’: Covid Woes Stalk Workers Back on Job and Covid `Long Haulers’ Ask Who Pays When Sickness Just Won’t End

Sending the Right Message

The conversation now shifts to how the vaccine gets into peoples’ arms and what to tell them about the different versions. J&J’s biggest advantage is its ease of use. It doesn’t need to be stored at specific cool temperatures like the Pfizer and Moderna shots—a basic refrigerator works just fine—and people who receive it don’t have to worry about signing up for a hard-to-get appointment for their second shot. That could make all the difference for the U.S. distribution efforts.

Read: Vaccine Shortages, Distribution Delays Point to Liability Limits and Biden’s Vaccine-Supply Drive Falls Short of Surging Demand (2)

It makes sense for the public to be confused. Why would I get a 66% effective shot when a 95% one is available? Anthony Fauci, the U.S. infectious disease czar, said Friday that people can’t hesitate to get a shot when given the opportunity. If they do, the country won’t hit the immunization level that effectively stops SARS-CoV-2 from spreading, so-called herd immunity.

If it keeps people out of the hospital, it’s a winner.

Read: Multiple Covid-19 Vaccine Protections Pose Messaging Challenge

The Biden administration is also raising questions about equal access to the Covid-19 vaccine, fearing that poor and underserved communities will come up short during the rollout. Reliance on pharmacies and hospitals to administer the shots invariably leaves out people in health-care “deserts,” where facilities are few and far between and transportation is spotty.

The administration is responding to those concerns with plans to waive any costs associated with Covid-19 vaccines for disadvantaged people and offering assistance with transportation and paid leave to get a shot. Community buy-in will also be a critical component of the rollout to different ethnic groups.

Read: Biden’s Health Equity Task Force to Spotlight Social Disparities and California to Pay Vaccine Providers Who Serve Poor Communities

Help With Variants

U.S. researchers are also ramping up their efforts to track the different versions of SARS-CoV-2 that are cropping up around the country. The U.S. lags behind the U.K. and other nations—it’s 43rd in the world, actually— in documenting the various Covid strains’ genetic makeup. The CDC is remedying that under Biden by conducting its own genetic sequencing of state virus samples on a weekly basis.

Read: Virus Variants Spur New Warnings as Vaccine Data Provides Hope and U.S. Falters in Testing to Detect Dangerous Covid Mutations (1)