NEW BRUNSWICK– U.S. has approved a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine that was developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
Johnson & Johnson is a single-dose vaccine authorized by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use for 18 years old and above.
Currently the USA has 3 types of Covid-19 vaccines, namely Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna are 2 shots. You get one then wait a month then take the other. Whereas the Johnson is just one shot.
Scientific evidence and data demonstrated the Johnson vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease and showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death, beginning 28 days after vaccination.
Alex Gorsky, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Johnson & Johnson said, “this milestone follows a year of incredible work by our dedicated teams and unprecedented collaboration with health leaders around the world – all of whom shared a goal of bringing a single-shot vaccine to the public.”
“We will do everything we can to help bring this pandemic to an end, in the United States and throughout the world,” he added.
Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson also believes that “the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is a critical tool for fighting this global pandemic, particularly as it shows protection across countries with different variants.
” A vaccine that protects against COVID-19, especially against the most dire outcomes of hospitalization and death, will help ease the burden on people and the strain on health systems worldwide.
“We look forward to our continued efforts around the world as we collectively aim to change the trajectory of this global pandemic,” Paul Stoffels said.
Johnson & Johnson is committed to making its COVID-19 vaccine available on a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use.
The Company plans to deliver 100 million single-shot vaccines to the U.S. during the first half of 2021.
The U.S. government will manage allocation and distribution of the vaccine in the U.S. This will be prioritized according to the populations identified by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) guidelines.
