Questions Answered: Comparing Other Coronavirus Vaccines, How Does The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Measure Up
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the results of its trial of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. The FDA found the vaccine to be safe and effective and it is expected to grant emergency use authorization in the coming days. Maureen Ferran, a virologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology, explains how this new vaccine works and explores the differences between it and the already approved Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines.
1. How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work?
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a viral vector vaccine.
To create this vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus – the viral vector – and replaced a small piece of its genetic instructions with coronavirus genes for the SAR...