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Johnson & Johnson Krem do Twarzy - Odkryj Tajemnice Zdrowej i Promiennej Skóry
DNA Inside an Adenovirus
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine comes out of decades of research on adenovirus-based vaccines. In July, the first one was approved for general use — a vaccine for Ebola, also made by Johnson & Johnson. The company is also running trials on adenovirus-based vaccines for other diseases, including H.I.V. and Zika. Some other coronavirus vaccines are also based on adenoviruses, such as the one developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca using a chimpanzee adenovirus.
Adenovirus-based vaccines for Covid-19 are more rugged than mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. DNA is not as fragile as RNA, and the adenovirus’s tough protein coat helps protect the genetic material inside. As a result, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be refrigerated for up to three months at 36–46°F (2–8°C).
Got Questions About Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine? We Have Answers
A medical worker at South Shore University Hospital gets ready to administer the newly available Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Bay Shore, N.Y., Wednesday. Clinical research found it to be 85% effective in preventing severe disease four weeks after vaccination, and it has demonstrated promising indications of protection against a couple of concerning variants of the coronavirus. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
A medical worker at South Shore University Hospital gets ready to administer the newly available Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Bay Shore, N.Y., Wednesday. Clinical research found it to be 85% effective in preventing severe disease four weeks after vaccination, and it has demonstrated promising indications of protection against a couple of concerning variants of the coronavirus.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
That's welcome news in a country that still faces high levels of circulating virus in most regions, and a demand for vaccine that still far outstrips supply.
The J&J vaccine has some significant advantages, health officials say. Unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, it can be stored for up to three months at regular refrigerator temperatures, so it's easier to distribute to more places. And you're fully vaccinated after just one dose — a welcome convenience for many recipients who dread the two-shot regimen of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
How does the vaccine work?
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what's known as an adenovirus vector vaccine. It uses an inactivated adenovirus, a type of virus that can cause the common cold, that has been engineered to carry the genetic code for the coronavirus's spike protein. The genetic instructions allow the body to build the spike protein, which the immune system learns to recognize. That way, if the real virus shows up, the immune system will already know how to defend itself.
The vaccine uses a modified adenovirus to enter cells and deliver the genetic code for the spike protein, but the viral vector itself is harmless.
"It's not a true virus — it has been modified so that you don't get infected," said the director of the stem cell program at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, a professor of neurology.
The vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech use a different approach to teach the body how to build the coronavirus's spike protein. Both vaccines use synthetic messenger RNA, or mRNA, to deliver bits of genetic code to cells to trigger an immune response.