General Wellness

Johnson and Johnson recently announced that their “one dose” vaccine has only about 66% efficacy. 

Well guess what, after one dose of the Pfizer ior the Moderna vaccines, their efficacy is less than that.

The difference is that from the outset, Pfizer and Moderna announced that their vaccines were 2 dose vaccines. Well, if J&J’s vaccine was also advertised as a 2-dose vaccine, it’s efficacy would probably also be in the 90% range that the other vaccines claim. 

A second “booster” dose always leads to better immune response since the first one primes the immune system. This is also partly why people have a more significant reaction after the second dose. After the first dose, your immune system is now primed and the second dose leads to a more robust immune response, also resulting in more side-effects like fever, cachiness, headache and fatigue (~50%).

J&J has not officially announced if a second dose will be offered, but I suspect it probably will.

At this stage however, more people vaccinated, even at lower levels, is still better than nothing. More people with less efficacy is better than fewer people with full protection. These much more infectious variant viruses are a real concern. More infections lead to more illness, hospitalizations and death, espetially if our hospitals become overwhelmed again.

And remember, that after getting vaccinated, NOTHING changes with respect to personal and societal protection so you MUST continue to do all the things that protect everyone. 

MASK

DISTANCE

WASH

DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE

EYE PROTECTION

VENTILAT

VACCINATE GET HEALTHY.

Stay Safe and Be Well

AC

We have heard that there are new, more infectious strains of the coronavirus which causes Covid-19. Although we dub these the “British variant”, “South African variant”, “Brazilian variant” and even now, the “Californian variant” we now know that the British variant is present in most US states and the S. African one is also now in the US.

Although not more lethal, these variants are much more infectious, meaning that you can catch it and spread it much more easily. More numbers = more hospitalizations = more deaths. In addition, those previously infected with the original version seem to be less protected against the S. African variant.

Although the Pfizer vaccine seems to be effective against the British variant, it is less effective against the other ones.

A new vaccine, Novavax, reports that it is 90% effective against the standard version of SARS-Cov-2, it is only 50% against the S. African variant. 

Although on the surface this seems bad, we need to keep things in perspective. The flu vaccine available each year is between 30-50%, depending on the strain. So, 50% effective is still pretty darn good. And I would take a 50% better chance of getting really sick.

In addition, keep in mind that creating a vaccine, what usually takes decades, has taken less than a year. Making versions of the vaccine capable of combating the new variants will also occur quickly.

HOWEVER, we MUST slow down the virus. The more it spreads and replicates, the greater the chances of developing even more concerning variants.

So PLEASE continue to be careful and show care and respect for yourself and everyone else by continuing what we know works. MASKS, DISTANCE, WASHING.

Have a great weekend.

Stay safe and be well. 

AC