So far, three vaccines against Covid-19 have been available on European soil: that of Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. A fourth serum has been authorized by France: the Janssen vaccine from the American laboratory Johnson & Johnson. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had already given the green light on Thursday, March 11. “With this latest positive opinion, the authorities of the European Union have an additional tool to fight against the pandemic and protect the life and health of their citizens”EMA director Emer Cooke said in a statement.
Deliveries to Europe will start on April 19
When will this vaccine start to be administered in France? His arrival “is scheduled from mid-April. By the end of the summer, we will be able to honor most of the delivery agreement of 200 million doses that we signed with the European Union”, had explained to JDD Paul Stoffels, Scientific Director of Johnson & Johnson.
The delivery date of this serum in Europe has just been unveiled: it will begin to be distributed on April 19, the company revealed to AFP. The European Union has placed an order for 200 million doses of this serum and should receive 55 million in the second quarter, as explained in mid-March Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
But what do we know about this new anti-Covid serum? Efficacy, conservation, price… Here are 7 things to know about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be 66% effective
In one communicated, Johnson & Johnson announced that their vaccine was “66% effective in preventing moderate to severe Covid-19, 28 days after vaccination”. It would nevertheless be 85% effective against severe forms of the disease. What about the effectiveness of other vaccines against coronavirus infection? That of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is estimated at 95%, that of the Moderna vaccine at 94.1% and that of the AstraZeneca vaccine at 70.4%.
It would also be effective on variants
Faced with the circulation of the British, South African and Brazilian variants of the coronavirus, concern is mounting. One question remains: are current vaccines effective against these mutations? Johnson & Johnson claims that its vaccine also protects against variants: “Protection was generally uniform (…) in all variants and regions studied, including South Africa where almost all cases of Covid-19 (95%) were due to infection with a variant of Sars-CoV-2 “, can we read in a press release.
The World Health Organization (WHO) therefore recommends using it “in countries where the spread of variants is high and in countries where we now have information on the use of this vaccine to control SARS-CoV-2 caused by these variants”, said Alejandro Cravioto, chair of the WHO expert group on immunization.
It is a viral vector vaccine
Like the AstraZeneca vaccine, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is “viral vector,” meaning it uses a non-pathogenic virus to trigger an immune response. The Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA technology. It does not consist of injecting an inactivated virus but aims to make the body produce fragments of infectious agents that trigger the immune response.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given as a single dose
We know: two doses of vaccines are necessary to be protected from Covid-19. This second injection must take place 21 days after the first in the case of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, 28 days later in the case of the Moderna vaccine and between 28 and 84 days in the case of the AstraZeneca vaccine. What about Johnson & Johnson Serum? This vaccine requires only one dose. “On the other hand it is possible that it requires reminders, we do not know that yet”, said Agnès Pannier-Runacher on France 3.
It can be stored in the refrigerator
One of the constraints associated with certain Covid-19 vaccines concerns their storage method. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine should therefore be stored at -70 ° C, while that of Moderna should be stored between -25 and -15 ° C. Johnson & Johnson serum can be stored in the refrigerator between 2 ° and 8 ° C.
This vaccine will be partly manufactured in France
Sanofi has announced it: it will produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at its Marcy-l’Etoile site (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). “When approved, Sanofi will give Johnson & Johnson access to its manufacturing infrastructure (…) and its established vaccine manufacturing know-how for the formulation and filling of vials of the Covid vaccine candidate -19 of Janssen, in 2021, at a rate of approximately 12 million doses per month “, can we read in a communicated.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine is inexpensive
6.93 euros. This is the price at which the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be sold, according to the Sunday newspaper. It is therefore less expensive than that of Moderna, sold 15 euros per dose, and that of Pfizer / BioNTech, sold 15.50 euros per dose. AstraZeneca’s vaccine, meanwhile, is sold at 2 euros per dose.
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⋙ Side effects, how to get vaccinated: all you need to know about the Covid-19 vaccine