Third COVID vaccine is 'excellent'

SANDUSKY — Don't be fooled. The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 is excellent, and anyone offered a vaccine should take whatever is available, experts say. The past week has been the first time the new one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been available in the U.S. It now supplements the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are given in two doses. People being vaccinated typically are not offered a choice, but that doesn't matter, in the opinion of Dr. Tara C. Smith, professor of epidemiology at Kent State University. "All are very good, and I would be happy to take any of them if I were eligible," Smith said. Some early news reports on the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine have implied it's not as effective as the other two. They have stressed Johnson & Johnson was 72% effective in preventing people from getting COVID-19 in clinical trials, compared to 94% for Moderna and 95% for Pfizer. That is not the most important measurement, and those percentages also may be misleading as a measurement for Johnson & Johnson's effectiveness, Smith said. The clinical data suggest all three are close to 100% effective in preventing deaths and severe cases that require hospitalization. "Preventing death is a key metric, and all of the vaccines do this very well," Smith said. In addition, while all three vaccines were created to combat the original version of COVID-19, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was tested later, when more contagious variants of the virus have become more common. "The vaccines were tested at different times, so that could play into the different measures found when looking at preventing all infections. The mRNA vaccines were tested in populations without spread of many of the variants; J&J was tested in a time and location where the variants were more widespread," Smith wrote in an email to the Register. "I suspect if Moderna and Pfizer were re-tested in that environment, we may see slightly reduced efficacy as well," she wrote. Other experts have applied a similar analysis and reached the same conclusion as Smith. "The right vaccine for you is the one that's available when your name comes up," said Dr. David Quimby, an infectious disease expert at Creighton University. On Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced an eight-week mass vaccination clinic will open on March 17 at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University in Cleveland. The governor also announced that "in the coming weeks," 15 other mass vaccination sites will open in Ohio, including Lima, Maumee, Dayton, Columbus, Akron, Youngstown, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta, Wilmington and Zanesville. In addition, Ohio will have four mobile mass vaccination clinics, including one based in Mansfield to serve north-central Ohio. Local partners for the Mansfield clinic have not been announced yet. On Thursday, the governor announced that all health orders, including the mask mandate, will end in Ohio when cases fall below 50 per 100,000 people. On Friday, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer for the state health department, and Stephanie McCloud, the health department's director, met with reporters by video to discuss the announcement. The Register asked Vanderhoff to predict when the governor might lift his orders. "I would not expect we will reach this threshold in just a few weeks," Vanderhoff said. Vanderhoff said the next three or four weeks should make it more clear what the impact will be of the more-infectious new variants of COVID-19. "I would anticipate they will have some impact," Vanderhoff said. Also Friday, a new vaccination site in Sandusky announced it has begun operating. Family Health Services received its first 100 doses of Moderna vaccine this week and has been working with two local pastors, Darrell Gant and Curtis Johnson, and with the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance to set up appointments, said David Tatro, executive director of the clinic. "We had our first vaccination clinic at Hayes Avenue last night, and successfully vaccinated 20 Erie county residents. We did not have any no-show appointments," Tatro told the Register Friday. The clinic expects to get another 100 doses each week and more clinics will be held. To register online, visit familyhs.org. To find other local places to get vaccinated, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov. The Erie County Health Department, which has been tracking local COVID-19 numbers, switched this week to issuing a weekly report. The first weekly report, issued Friday, showed 7,290 cases, up 90 since last Friday, and 191 deaths, up five in a week. Six COVID-19 patients were being treated at Firelands Regional Medical Center. According to the state health department, Erie County has given at least one vaccination shot to 13,796 people, about 18.6% of the county's population. Ohio has started vaccinations for 1,871,969 people, 16% of the population, and completed vaccinations for 1,025,941 people. Ohio reported 976,230 cases Friday and 17,502 deaths. The CDC reported Friday the U.S. had about 28.5 million deaths so far, with 517,225 deaths. The U.S. has given 82.6 vaccination shots so far, including 54 million who have received one dose, 16.3% of the population.