The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study that reveals the COVID-19 vaccine of Moderna is actually more effective than that of Pfizer's and Johnson & Johnson.
According to The Epoch Times, the CDC report highlights the growing gap in the effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine from the other brands. The effectiveness of the said vaccines dropped after a couple of days from the date of vaccination but nonetheless showed Moderna remaining higher than the others.
The study, released on September 24, is entitled "Comparative Effectiveness of Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) Vaccines in Preventing COVID-19 Hospitalizations Among Adults Without Immunocompromising Conditions-United States, March-August 2021."
Moderna reportedly showed 93% effectiveness as compared to Pfizer, which is at 88%, and Johnson & Johnson, which is at 71%. The said percentages came from a study conducted on more than 3,600 adults from the United States who do not have "immunocompromising conditions."
"Among U.S. adults without immunocompromising conditions, vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization during March 11-August 15, 2021, was higher for the Moderna vaccine (93%) than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (88%) and the Janssen vaccine (71%)," the CDC study said in its Summary.
"VE for the Moderna vaccine was 93% at 14-120 days (median = 66 days) after receipt of the second vaccine dose and 92% at >120 days (median = 141 days) (p = 1.000). VE for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 91% at 14-120 days (median = 69 days) after receipt of the second vaccine dose but declined significantly to 77% at >120 days (median = 143 days) (p<0.001)," the study added. "VE" stands for Vaccine Effectiveness.
The CDC also pointed out that the Moderna vaccine produced better anti-body levels after vaccination. Although, when it comes to cases of hospitalization due to COVID-19, the Pfizer vaccine proved to be lower than Moderna's.
There are, however, six limitations to the report in so far as the findings are concerned. Some of the said limitations involve not considering children in the analysis, having a relatively small number of patients in computing estimates for the effect of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and follow-up time was constrained to 29 weeks from receipt of vaccination. While the rest of the limitations involve making adjustments in VE estimates, not evaluating its effect on specific variants of COVID-19, and measurement of antibody levels constrained to a 2-6 weeks timeframe.
Notwithstanding the differences in the effectivity of the vaccine, the CDC stressed that all vaccines still provide the necessary protection needed by people against COVID-19.
"Although these real-world data suggest some variation in levels of protection by vaccine, all FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide substantial protection against COVID-19 hospitalization," the CDC underscored in the report.
The said report, the CDC said, is meant to be a guide to people in deciding which brand of the vaccine would be more suitable for them.
"Two-dose series of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provided high VE for the prevention of COVID-19 hospitalizations during March-August 2021. Protection for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine declined 4 months after vaccination. A single dose of the Janssen viral vector vaccine had comparatively lower anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response and VE against COVID-19 hospitalizations," the CDC report synthesized.
"Understanding differences in VE by vaccine product can guide individual choices and policy recommendations regarding vaccine boosters. All FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines provide substantial protection against COVID-19 hospitalization," the report ended.
Recently, the CDC has announced that children would be able to celebrate Halloween this year following rules on in-door gathering being limited to a small number of people only. The said announcement is said to have come from Pfizer already applying for emergency use of their vaccine on children aged 5 to 11.
