Tag: SARS-CoV-2

A review of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 adenovirus vector vaccine.

The verdict: The verdict (updated on August 24, 2021): Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 adenovirus vector vaccine was rather effective in phase-3 trials at preventing severe COVID-19. However, the real-life data show that the protection is short-lived, limited to 2 to 7 months after vaccination. The single-dose Johnson and Johnson vector vaccine creates the shortest period of protection. None of the intramuscular vaccines against COVID-19 limit transmission.
For the most vulnerable groups, in particular, people of advanced age who can not take other prevention, hygiene, prophylaxis, and early treatment measures, Astra-Zeneca-Oxford vector vaccine, two doses, may be a somewhat better option. Tens of thousands of people of advanced age vaccinated in Scotland apparently survived vaccination with Astra-Zeneca-Oxford. Adverse effects of Astra-Zeneca-Oxford vaccine are less pronounced than in younger groups. For younger people, and competent literate normal people of all ages, we do NOT recommend Astra-Zeneca-Oxford vaccine (as of August 2021).

Fig. 2 Effect of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin association on SARS-CoV 2 replication. 2A. Delta Ct between 0 and 60 h post infection. Ordered axis represents the variation of delta cycle-thresholds obtained by RT-PCR between H0 and H60 for each condition. Each point represents data obtained for one well. Number of replicates was indicated for each conditions are A10H5 n = 16, A10H2 n = 5, A10H1 n = 5, A5H5 n = 15, A5H2 n = 5, A5H1 n = 3, A2H5 n = 3, A2H2 n = 3, A2H1 n = 3 and n = 13 for the positive control. Median and interquartile range were indicated for each condition. *** represent significant results under p < 0,0005. Others are not significant compared to the control. 2B. Percentage of inhibition as compared to control by the combinations of 5 μM of hydroxychloroquine associated with 5 or 10 μM for azithromycin. Data represent the mean ± SD, representing three independent experiments conducted at least in triplicate. Source: Andreani et al., 2020.

Combined hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin show synergistic effect on SARS-CoV-2 in monkey Vero E6 cells in vitro but may not be effective in human alveoli, pneumocytes and other cells.

The cell types in which hydroxychloroquine is apparently ineffective include epithelial cells lining the nose, trachea, and distal airways, including alveoli and type II pneumocytes. However, it is useful to know that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have a synergistic effect in the cell types where SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication is dependent on endosomal pH.