Which Vaccine Is Best For You? | Johnson and Johnson | Pfizer | Moderna
Efficacy vs. Effectiveness
Efficacy does NOT always equal effectiveness…
Efficacy is what we find during clinical trials where the vaccine is tested on tens of thousands of people whereas effectiveness is how the drug prevents disease to the millions of people in real life.
An efficacy rate of say 95% means that those who participated in the drug trials at that time had a 95% decreased chance of getting COVID after receiving the vaccine. This doesn't mean that if 100 people are vaccinated that 5 WILL actually get sick, but instead that 95% efficacy number applies to every person individually - that is each person who gets the Pfizer vaccine is 95% less likely to contract COVID than someone who did not get a vaccine at all
You can’t compare these vaccines because the clinical trials were done during a different time period where rates of infection were not only unequivocal, but also variants had begun emerging. They were also done in different countries:
Pfizer + Moderna = August to November primarily in the USA.
J&J = October to February (more opportunities to be exposed to infections) in the USA, South Africa and Brazil
During the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials, the daily number of cases of COVID were not nearly as high as they were during the J&J trials. As more COVID cases became apparent, a person's chances of getting the virus in general would substantially increase.
If Pfizer and Moderna trials would have taken place during the same months that J&J was, it's quite possible the efficacy rates would be lower and the inverse of this statement is also true: if J&J performed their trials during August to November and only primarily in the USA, their efficacy rates could be much higher. In my opinion, this puts the practical effectiveness, or how well the vaccine does in real life among millions of people of each these vaccines much closer than people may realize
It's also important to realize and understand that among all the trials performed with the three different vaccines, not one individual was hospitalized or died from COVID related symptoms after the vaccines were given. This means that all three vaccines have an efficacy rate of 100% in terms of stopping COVID from sending you to the hospital and it potentially killing you if you were to contract it in the future.
If you'd like to know even more information about how each of these vaccines work and a deeper comparison among the three click HERE for J&J and HERE for Pfizer/Moderna.
Of course, the biggest advantage to J&J is that it's only one dose, so you don't have to come back for another shot. And let's be honest, nobody enjoys shots!!
Vaccines By Age
Age: 16-18 the only option at the moment is Pfizer
Age: 18-60 you could theoretically get any of the major 3 vaccines. I think it's important to mention that J&J has been known to use a fetal cell line PER.C6, developed from the retinal cells of an 18-week-old baby aborted in 1985 in its production and manufacturing stages, but these are not in the vaccine itself. Also, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines used similar fetal cell lines in their testing stages, but again not in their vaccines themselves either. So this may influence your overall choice as well
Age: 60+ OR chronic medical conditions like diabetes or heart disease I would recommend the Pfizer or Moderna because of its slightly higher efficacy rates
If you're sensitive to vaccines in general, the allergic reaction rates (although significantly low for all 3 vaccines) is slightly lower than J&J, and again it's only one shot.
If you'd like to know more information about why side effects occur from these vaccines in most individuals, click HERE!
