How the J&J COVID-19 vaccine differs from Pfizer, Moderna

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There are now 3 different COVID-19 vaccines that are authorized for use in the United States.
Two are mRNA-based (Pfizer, Moderna), while one is an adenovirus (Johnson & Johnson).
Dr Fauci explained how they differ in action, but said “the ultimate end game” is the same.
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The United States now has three vaccines licensed to fight the pandemic: two mRNA options from Pfizer and Moderna, and an adenovirus injection from Johnson & Johnson.

While it is true that Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines were overall more effective than J&J’s in their trials, experts noted that all of these vaccines share two very important statistics in common: zero hospitalizations and zero deaths among patients. fully vaccinated trial participants.

And when asked which vaccine might offer people the best long-term protection against infections, including protection against disturbing new virus variants like B.1.351, virus expert Florian Krammer told Insider on Monday:

“There isn’t much to say at the moment.”

But we already know that there are important differences in the way these two types of vaccines work.

During a COVID-19 White House briefing on Monday, President Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr.Anthony Fauci revealed exactly how each shot takes effect.

Snapshots from Pfizer and Moderna give the body genetic instruction manuals to learn how to fight coronavirus safely

Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine — Pfizer mRNA based COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna train the body to learn how to fight COVID-19 by injecting mRNA (messenger RNA) into a person’s deltoid – the rounded muscle that hugs the upper arm and shoulder .

“The mRNA that is injected into the muscle encodes the spike protein,” as Fauci explained on Monday.

The coronavirus spike protein is what would otherwise allow the virus to hook up and invade our cells. But mRNA vaccines train our bodies to say immunologically, “not so fast..“

“The body sees that [protein] and makes an immune response against it, giving you the protection that has been shown with the two mRNA vaccines, ”Fauci added.

J&J inserts harmless cold virus to do the same job

johnson and johnson vaccine — The first boxes of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine are loaded into a box for shipment from the McKesson facility in Shepherdsville, Ky. On March 1, 2021.

J & J’s shot, on the other hand, injects viral DNA (not mRNA) into a person’s arm. This is one of the main reasons why J & J’s vaccine is so much easier to make and keep in the fridge: the DNA inside is not as fragile as the single-stranded mRNA in Pfizer injections. and Moderna.

This J&J DNA is encapsulated inside a “harmless, non-replicating virus,” Fauci said.

The virus in question, called Adeno26, is a common cold virus whose disease genes have been removed so it cannot make you sick.

Once the vaccine is injected into a person’s arm, the virus injects their DNA into cells. There they are copied into the messenger RNA. This mRNA then codes for the coronavirus spike proteins in the same way as injections from Pfizer or Moderna.

Both types of vaccines result in the same ‘end game’ for the virus

niaid jaws — Dr Anthony Fauci in Washington DC on February 25, 2021.

So “the ultimate end game” of COVID-19 adenovirus and mRNA vaccines is the same, Fauci said.

“Both vaccines ultimately result in a spike protein in the right conformation that gives the body the ability to sense that this is the real virus it is seeing.”

To be clear, “it’s not [the virus]it’s protein, ”Fauci said.

All of this prepares the body of a vaccinated person to fight off any possible COVID-19 infection, should the vaccinated person come into contact with the virus again.

The good news is that mRNA and adenovirus vaccines appear to fight the most serious COVID-19 infections very well: both doses of Pfizer and Moderna were over 94% effective in their trials, while J&J was effective in 85% against severe infections. sickness and death.

There is also speculation that adenoviral vaccines like J&J may give people a broader and more robust form of immunity against viral variants, with both demonstrated antibody and T cell response (vaccines mRNA can only provide tighter antibody protection.) remains to be seen, as more people get vaccinated and variants of the virus continue to spread.

Either way, experts agree that the three licensed vaccines must work together, in order to mitigate the spread of the virus across the United States and help end the pandemic.

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