(CNN) Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’

(CNN) Johnson & Johnson pauses Covid-19 vaccine trial after ‘unexplained illness’.

The J&J vaccine is described here: Ad26.COV2-S (JNJ-78436735) Vaccine Description. Quoting,

The JNJ-78436735 vaccine leverages Janssen’s AdVac and PER.C6® technologies. These are the same technologies Janssen used to develop and manufacture the Company’s Ebola vaccine, Ad26.ZEBOV.

AD26 is the specific strain of adenovirus. Quoting from AdVac ,

ADVAC® VIRAL VECTOR TECHNOLOGY

Adenoviruses are a group of viruses that cause the common cold – so they’re good for transporting things into humans.

(The “goodness” of the above has insufficient support for mass vaccination.)

Janssen’s AdVac® vectors are based on a specific type of adenovirus, which has been genetically modified so that it can no longer replicate in humans and cause disease.

While the details of manufacture are different, this shares the supposed “good idea” of the AstraZeneca and Russian vaccines, the use of a modified adenovirus to insert genetic material into cells at the injection site. The J&J vaccine now shares the distinction, with AstraZeneca, of trial halted by unexplained illness. See

With the halts of AstraZeneca and J&J trials, there is almost a pattern. An actual pattern is distinguished by one or both of:

  • Frequency of occurrence.
  • Specificity of syndrome.