The J&J vaccine is a single dose shot, meaning you don’t need to schedule two trips to the doctor. Data from the US specifically has shown the vaccine to be 72% effective in keeping you from getting sick and 85% effective in preventing severe illness or hospitalization (FDA). Likely, the J&J vaccine won’t be readily available until April.
How did they develop the vaccines so quickly?
Viral vector vaccines, like the J&J vaccine, have been approved before by the FDA and have been used to vaccinate against diseases like Ebola.
Yes, this is the first time mRNA vaccine technology has been used on such a large scale, but it isn’t new. Actually, the first therapeutic use of mRNA injection was published in 1990 in Science.
And if you’re worried about the integrity of the scientists themselves, look no further than viral immunologist Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, the brilliant Black woman who co-led the team of scientists that developed the Moderna vaccine. All three vaccines went through rigorous scientific reviews and approval processes that held them to the same standard as other approved vaccines. The overwhelming majority of Black doctors and scientists have said that the vaccines are safe and that they themselves will be vaccinated as soon as possible.
Oftentimes, the vaccine process is slowed by logistics—backlogs of applications, elaborate manufacture and distribution plans. As a global emergency, the COVID-19 vaccine was prioritized and logistics were dealt with quickly. Think about it like a trip to the DMV: If as soon as you arrived, someone handed you the exact forms you needed and you could skip to the front of the line, it would actually be a pretty painless and speedy process.
Does the COVID vaccine work in Black people?
The US medical system has earned the mistrust of black people through a long history of systemic racism. It makes sense to be skeptical of anything they’re trying to stick into your arm.
But you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. These vaccines are 72%-95% effective at preventing you from getting COVID-19 and 85%-100% effective in preventing serious illness, which means that on the very slim chance you do happen to contract COVID-19, you likely won’t be hospitalized from it (FDA).
Both clinical trials for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines had roughly 10% Black participants (FDA). The Johnson & Johnson vaccine had 13% Black participants in its US clinical trial and 19% Black participants in its global trials (J&J).
Most breast cancer treatments went through clinical trials with less than 3% Black participants and were ultimately approved with much lower success rates.
Can breast cancer patients get the vaccine?
None of the current data suggests that the vaccine will affect treatments or threaten the stability of breast cancer patients. In response to a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Fauci said that there is “no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine will have any effect on your treatment.” In the Pfizer clinical trial, 3.7% of participants were cancer survivors (NYT).