Which Covid Vaccine is better?

[Bella RN, BSN, MSN]

Hello Fellow Nurses,

Which Covid vaccine supply is better to you Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson& Johnson?

Does anyone know where to review research? I have elderly parents and elderly in laws. I have read about side effects and anaphylaxis reactions. It's so nerve wracking!

I wanted to hear  my fellow Nurses thoughts. At this time I prefer to wait until I discover more research and data to make an informed decision. 

Thank you

[caliotter3]

I believe I read that the healthcare worker in CA who died after the second dose had received the Pfizer vaccine.  And I just read that the J&J version is only one dose but is also only 62%, 72%, or 80% effective depending upon what you read. Tidbits of info here and there like this might be useful for making a choice, but most will just take what is available to them at the time.

[Bella RN, BSN, MSN]

2 minutes ago, caliotter3 said:

I believe I read that the healthcare worker in CA who died after the second dose had received the Pfizer vaccine.  And I just read that the J&J version is only one dose but is also only 62%, 72%, or 80% effective depending upon what you read. Tidbits of info here and there like this might be useful for making a choice, but most will just take what is available to them at the time.

Wow thank you for that information. I read about a retired  ER physician in South Florida who took his first dose of the vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer can't recall which one) he broke out into a rash in his hands and feet at home. Then his wife took him into ER and was intubated and died. I would like to post the article but not sure how to  from my phone. You may Google it. He did not have any co morbidities and was quite healthy. But he was a older gentleman.

When I read about these incidents it saddens me and not sure which to take if any.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

More and more information on both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are coming through as people are getting vaccinated.

Pfizer/BioNTech's initial results have long been published and the easiest way to find it is via this NEJM article:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577

Moderna's results are also published in the NJEM and is found here:

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389

Today, Johnson and Johnson, announced the results of the effectiveness of their vaccine in a press release. They are applying for EUA soon:

https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-announces-single-shot-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-met-primary-endpoints-in-interim-analysis-of-its-phase-3-ensemble-trial

As far as current data on adverse effects from individuals vaccinated after EUA approval of both Pfizer and Moderna, I have no way to confirm the validity of news articles so I won't believe them until they are confirmed by peer review.

[turtlesRcool]

On 1/29/2021 at 5:12 PM, juan de la cruz said:

Today, Johnson and Johnson, announced the results of the effectiveness of their vaccine in a press release. They are applying for EUA soon:

https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-announces-single-shot-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-met-primary-endpoints-in-interim-analysis-of-its-phase-3-ensemble-trial

 

Thank you for the links.  I am especially interested in learning more about the J&J vaccine.  The single shot could be a game changer, especially in underserved areas or with less mobile people.  Plus, it doesn't need the deep freeze that Pfizer does, so it could be given at clinics or doctor's offices.

I've had several patients ask me if they can get a COVID shot before they leave the hospital, but, sadly, we're not giving them inpatient at this time.  One 90-year-old said she doesn't drive anymore, so getting to appointments is hard. She said if she could get the first dose before she's discharged, she would only need to find one ride back for the second shot.

If I'm reading the link correctly, it sounds like J&J takes several weeks to reach peak efficacy, just like Moderna and Pfizer, but with no second dose required.  Of course, we don't know how effective Moderna and Pfizer are over time after the first shot alone because their research trials were based on a two-dose regimen.

While the J&J vaccine efficacy doesn't seem as high as Moderna or Pfizer, it's also being trialed later, with the virus mutating. The South African variant is especially worrisome, but the J&J vaccine seems to be doing well in prevention of severe disease, even if it doesn't prevent infection wholly.  I'm not sure what the efficacy of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines would have been if their research had to contend with the B.1.351 strain, too.

 

[Aries22]

If I were you I would wait. The vaccine is too new.  There is no real data on the effectiveness or side effects of the vaccine.  Older people are already at risk. I would not advise older people especially to take the vaccine at this time. It's too new.  I think that people are being used as test subjects for this vaccine.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

19 minutes ago, Aries22 said:

If I were you I would wait. The vaccine is too new.  There is no real data on the effectiveness or side effects of the vaccine.  Older people are already at risk. I would not advise older people especially to take the vaccine at this time. It's too new.  I think that people are being used as test subjects for this vaccine.

Care to share your scientific sources? I ask because if you are "advising" people, I would assume it is based off of research, data, and science.

[macawake, MSN]

On 2/6/2021 at 11:37 PM, Aries22 said:

If I were you I would wait. The vaccine is too new.  There is no real data on the effectiveness or side effects of the vaccine.  Older people are already at risk. I would not advise older people especially to take the vaccine at this time. It's too new.  I think that people are being used as test subjects for this vaccine.

Unless I’m mistaken one of the terms that we agree to when we join this site is to not offer medical advice. A poster could be Jill the plumber or Joe the bartender for all we know. Even if the poster happens to be a nurse, they still shouldn’t advice people they haven’t met or know the complete medical background of.

The advice you offer is bad advice. I noticed in another thread that you mentioned that you have a degree in psychology, but that you don’t have a nursing degree. Correct?  

Older people are dying from Covid infections at a much higher rate than younger people. Telling them in particular to not take the vaccine is highly irresponsible. You are also mistaken when you say that there is no real data regarding safety and efficacy. All the approved vaccines have gone through phase 3 trials. 
 

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https://www.fda.gov/media/144246/download
 

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https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download

 

We also have data on Covid-19 CFR and are gaining more and more information regarding the risk of long-term sequelae. For me personally taking one of the vaccines when it was offered was a no-brainer. I’m mid-forties and healthy and I still feel that the risks of an infection are higher than the possible risks of a vaccine. I’ve taken the vaccine both for myself and for the community I’m a part of. 
 

 

@OP 

My best advice for you is to talk to your healthcare provider, look for information from credible medical sources and peer-reviewed scientific publications. Reading random accounts in the media or on social media is in my opinion not a good and systematic approach to making medical decisions. The information found there is often anecdotal which renders it close to useless. Correlation does not imply causation. Something that the tabloids and various news and talk shows on TV don’t always keep in mind. 

The case of the physician who died after getting a Covid-19 vaccine is being investigated to find out if his death is linked to the vaccine. If we’re thinking of the same person, it appears he developed thrombocytopenia sometime after being vaccinated. 

To put the anecdotal stories you might come across in the media into perspective, so far more than 130 million vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.

Best wishes OP!

 

[ICUMurse21]

I personally feel that I would not get anything other than Pfizer or Moderna. My mom is 64 and is very close to being eligible for her vaccine and I will make sure she goes to a location offering one of those. The efficacy rates of the pfizer and moderna vaccines are just much more promising to me than J&J. Although the flu vaccine is typically only around 40-45% effective each year, and J&J's COVID vaccine outperforms those statistics, I still feel that I would want myself and my family members to have the best protection possible against COVID. We all know COVID is an entirely different beast than the seasonal flu, so those efficacy rates are very important to me when comparing them to flu vaccine efficacy rates. As for reactions, I personally believe MOST of those horror stories that are being circulated (deaths from the vaccine, etc.) aren't necessarily connected to the vaccination alone. I do believe for a lot of those complications there was some sort of underlying issue that came to surface once the immune system became busy from the vaccination. I personally was not worried about anaphylaxis/negative effects. Beyond that, anaphylaxis is actually a very common issue, and it is easily treated when in the right setting, which most of these vaccines are being administered in locations that have equipment and support to deal with issues that may arise. Hope this helps ease some concerns, or provides you with some more info that will allow you to make the best decision for you! Stay safe!

[peripateticRN, BSN, RN]

I would say the best vaccine is any one you can get at this point in the game. Where I live you don't have the option of being picky, and I am thrilled to have gotten dose 1 of moderna. 

[Kitiger, RN]

Is it fair to compare J & J's vaccine efficacy with Pfizer and Moderna? If I understand correctly, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were tested before the vaccine was known to be mutating in significant numbers. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was tested when the virus was noticeably mutating.

[MarkMyWords]

I doubt that I will get a choice. Why you think we will? I am on the early list for it, (because of age and lungs) but eligible population is large where I live and the website says nothing about the company brand. 

I read that baseball great Hank Aaron took the vaccine and died 2 weeks later. He was in his 80s.