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Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that its single-shot vaccine proved highly effective in protecting against COVID-19, raising hopes for an additional tool to thwart the mutating coronavirus.
“But the results came with a significant cautionary note,” The New York Times reports. “The vaccine’s efficacy rate dropped from 72 percent in the United States to 57 percent in South Africa, where a highly contagious variant is driving most cases.”
Studies show that variant, B.1.351, also reduced the effectiveness of vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax, The Times reports. South Carolina officials on Thursday reported the first two U.S. cases of the variant.
“If Johnson & Johnson can deliver vaccines quickly enough to the United States, it might be able to help drive down cases before variants make things worse,” The Times reports. “Since the vaccine requires only a single shot — unlike the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, which require two — that delivery would translate into full coverage for 100 million people.”
Top Stories
‘It’s here now’: The doctors and nurses who treated Wisconsin’s first COVID patient had no idea what we were in for — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine offers strong protection but fuels concern about variants — The New York Times
Wisconsin FoodShare recipients will see an increase in benefits starting in February — WPR
Demand for COVID-19 vaccine is 4 times higher than state’s supply, health official says — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GOP changes to Wisconsin COVID-19 bill raise prospect of veto — WPR
Republicans want to cut business taxes $450M with state deduction for COVID-19 loans — Wisconsin State Journal
Rock County resolution offers vaccine exemptions to Rock Haven employees — Janesville Gazette
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Quotable
“I appreciate the extra kleenex boxes, the kind emails, the cute pictures your child draws for me. But sending your child to school with unnecessary exposure cancels all of that out.”
— An anonymous Sun Prairie teacher urging families to avoid traveling in a Madison365 column
“It took a year for approximately 37,600 people to test positive from COVID, and in one month, 38,660 Dane County residents have been immunized with at least one dose of the vaccine.”
— Janel Heinrich of Public Health Madison and Dane County, as quoted by Channel 3000
“There’s no clear scientific data or evidence that definitely proves that two masks are superior to one, but it just makes common sense. The more layers you put into a mask, the better the filtration properties they have.”
— Dr. Christopher Davis, a Froedert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin trauma surgeon, speaking to WPR
Data to note
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services continues to log fewer daily infections, with cases now at their lowest levels since mid-September, but it still reports more than two dozen new daily deaths on average.
Public health officials continue to urge Wisconsinites to wear masks and practice physical distancing until vaccinations are more widely distributed.
WisContext offers these visualizations of Wisconsin COVID-19 infections, deaths and hospitalizations.
Calculate your exposure risk
In Wisconsin, even small gatherings can carry a big risk of exposure to the coronavirus, according to a nationwide tool that estimates the danger by the size of gathering and county in which it is held. Data scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Stanford University developed the tool, which you can find here.
Resilient Wisconsin
People helping others and showing resilience during this time of anxiety. Send suggestions by tagging us on social media — @wisconsinwatch — or emailing us: tips@wisconsinwatch.org.
UW students working at COVID-19 vaccination sites can receive $500 tuition credit — Wisconsin State Journal
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The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by the Center do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
