ATLANTA (CNN) – The US risks losing all its recent gains in the fight against COVID-19, because the highly contagious variants take advantage of the fact that the Americans are becoming cowards with safety measures.
“Please hear me clearly: at this level of spread cases, we will completely lose the hard-won ground we have gained,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After weeks of declining cases, new infections are rising again – about 2 percent more in the last week compared to the previous week, Walensky said Monday.
“Similarly, the most recent seven-day death toll has also risen by more than 2% … to almost 2,000 deaths a day.”
Walensky also called for states to reduce COVID-19 security mandates.
“I am really concerned about reports that several states are returning to the exact public health measures that we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19,” she said.
“Please stay strong in your belief. Continue to wear the right mask and take other public health prevention actions that we know work,” Walensky added.
“Ultimately, vaccination is what will get us out of this pandemic. To get there, we need to vaccinate a lot more people.”
A third vaccine will help with mass vaccination
The good news this week is that Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine will begin.
“There’s a kind of new emergency,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, a professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
Since there are new viral variants appearing right now, with some chances that some of them will eventually become somewhat resistant to the protection offered by vaccines, it is really important to get it out there quickly.
About 3.9 million doses of J&J vaccine will be distributed to states, tribes, territories, pharmacies and community health centers, a senior Biden administration official said Sunday night.
“These doses of J&J will be administered as early as Tuesday morning.”
As a single-dose vaccine, “people don’t have to come back for the second dose to be protected,” Walensky said.
“In addition, this vaccine does not need to be stored in a freezer and can be stored at refrigerated temperatures. So it is easy to transport and store and allows extensive availability in most community settings and mobile sites as supply increases. “
The other two vaccines distributed – one from Pfizer-BioNTech and one from Moderna – both have approximately 95% efficacy rates, with even greater protection against severe forms of the disease.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine demonstrated a 72% efficacy rate against mild to severe / critical illness among US study participants. It is more effective against severe forms of the disease, with a protection of about 85%.
Health experts say Americans should not be discouraged by the slightly smaller number of J&J. His vaccine was tested later than the other two vaccines, when infections were already on the rise and new strains were spreading more. .
The J&J vaccine was also tested in South Africa, when the disturbing strain B.1.351 dominated there, but still provided strong protection against severe disease.
Don’t be too picky about the vaccine you get
Health experts, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, said they would be happy to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine if it were the only one available, as all three vaccines distributed in the United States are extremely effective against severe COVID-19.
And if this is the only vaccine available in your area, you should go ahead and get it as soon as you can, CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen said Monday.
“Think about the other vaccines we get. If we’re going to get the flu shot, I don’t think anyone is asking the brand of the flu shot (or) what company makes it.”
In addition, “in the immediate future, people will not receive a choice when supply is a limiting factor,” she said.
“Right now, the key is to get some kind of immunity. Get any vaccine available to you first. You can get another vaccine or a booster vaccine later, when the supply isn’t the problem.”
New variants are still spreading
March will be a very important chapter in this pandemic. The CDC predicted that the highly contagious variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK would become the dominant strain in the US this month.
According to CDC data, more than 2,460 infections involving strains have been reported. The vast majority of these cases – at least 2,400 – are of the highly contagious strain B.1.1.7.
These numbers are probably much lower than the actual number of people infected with the variants. The numbers represent just those case variants found by genomic sequencing, the CDC said.
At this point, the key is to get some kind of immunity. Get any vaccine available to you first. You can always get another vaccine or a booster vaccine later, when the supply is not the problem.
– CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen
The US lags behind dozens of other countries in terms of the proportion of cases tested for variants, but the CDC said it is working to intensify those efforts.
Can vaccines avoid new variants?
Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are trying to make sure their vaccines outperform.
The strain B.1.351 first detected in South Africa has the most worrying effects on the ability of vaccines to produce an immune response, Dr. Heather Scobie said at a meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Monday.
She also said that two doses of COVID-19 vaccine protect people better than a single dose.
“Five studies have shown that postponing the second dose of mRNA may leave some people less protected against SARS-Cov-2 variants,” Scobie said at the ACIP meeting.
Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines are mRNA vaccines.
“All studies have shown improved neutralization of B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 after the second dose of vaccine,” she said. In several studies, people who recovered from COVID-19 and received a dose of vaccine had moderate protection against B.1.351.
Johnson & Johnson is working on a booster to help its COVID-19 vaccine cope with new strains of coronavirus variants, CEO Alex Gorsky said Monday.
“Although we are encouraged and confident in the current vaccine we have, you must always prepare for the future and honestly for the unknown,” Gorsky said.
Last week, Moderna said it designed a booster shot to help prevent strain B.1.351, which has worried scientists because it has a mutation that could affect the effectiveness of vaccines.
This shot would serve as a booster for people who have already been vaccinated and as a primary vaccine for people who have not had coronavirus and have not yet been vaccinated.
Moderna is also testing a third lower dose of the current vaccine in study participants to see if it would protect against disturbing variants.
Pfizer and BioNTech said last week that they have begun testing how well a third dose of their authorized vaccine fits into new variants.
On Monday, BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said it would take another six to eight weeks to get real-world data showing how effective the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is against B.1.351.
Many more need the vaccine before the herd’s immunity
While news of the third COVID-19 vaccine is worth celebrating, the United States is still far from the herd’s immunity. Then there are enough people protected against a virus that it cannot spread in the population.
About 15.3% of the US population received at least one photo of the Moderna or Pfizer / BioNTech two-dose vaccine, according to CDC data available Monday.
About 7.7% of Americans have been completely vaccinated with both doses.
Vaccines will be tested in children
Now that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in adults, the company will begin studies with children, said Dr. Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs with the J&J vaccine arm, Janssen.
“We will conduct several immunogenicity and safety studies in children from 17 to newborns,” Douoguih told a CDC advisory committee on Sunday.
“We hope that the study for teenagers will open next week. We also anticipate a study for pregnant women in the second and third trimesters towards the end of March, beginning of April,” Douoguih said.
Johnson & Johnson also plans to begin the study in immunocompromised people in the third quarter of this year, Douoguih said.
The FDA’s emergency authorization for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is currently for use in adults over 18 years of age.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been approved for people over the age of 16, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for people over the age of 18.
Both Moderna and Pfizer have begun enrolling children in COVID-19 vaccine studies.
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