North Carolina opens vaccine eligibility to all groups on Wednesday – a major step in the reopening process for the state. Although vaccinations are increasing, the Centers for Disease Control warns of variants of the virus – emerging from places like the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil -spreading through the U.S.

Dr. Mark McClellan is a Duke University physician, economist and former commissioner of the federal Food and Drug Administration. He said the variants are something to be monitored, however newer vaccines like the Johnson & Johnson are effective against them.

“I think the good news so far is that the J&J vaccine was tested kind of directly against this type of variant in South Africa,” McClellan said. “And it worked very well against preventing severe infections from that variant.”

Although other vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna were not tested against the new variants, McClellan said the results of their effectiveness look promising.

“Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines haven’t been tested in those same large scale clinical studies,” the Duke physician said. “From studies about immune response, it looks like those vaccines as well, generated good, not as a spectacular immune response to contain that virus, as they did for the original forms of COVID, but good enough to again prevent severe complications.”

He said it is important for everyone to receive their shot when they are eligible because the vaccines can make it harder for the virus to spread and mutate into new variants. Monitoring the variants and continuing testing can ensure the vaccines work well, but McClellan said they may need modifications in the future.

“Vaccines that we have now are very good for that,” McClellan said. “It may mean going forward that we need to do boosters on those vaccines sooner than we would have otherwise.”

While McClellan said there may need to be modified versions of the vaccine, manufacturers are already working on them for the fall and beyond.

In late March, Governor Roy Cooper announced all North Carolinians would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine April 7.

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