The first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized for dissemination in the United States. This was after advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unanimously voted to recommend the Johnson & Johnson shot for 18 and older US citizens.
Single-Dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine
Dissemination of the novel coronavirus vaccine began last night. It was right after the CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky formally rubber-stamped the authorization. The first doses of the vaccine will be delivered as early as tomorrow morning, according to a senior administration official in a briefing call.
Almost 4 million doses of the latest coronavirus vaccine will be shipped Sunday evening. It will begin to be distributed to states for injections beginning on Tuesday. According to the White House, the whole stockpile of the newly approved single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be disseminated immediately, reported KTLA5.
J&J will deliver an estimated 16 million more doses by the end of March. One million in total will be delivered by the end of June. However, the distribution would be backloaded, reported ABC 7.
The J&J vaccine is quite different than the two vaccines already in use in the United States. Most importantly, it only requires one dose and is more convenient to handle. It could be kept at simple refrigerator temperatures for up to three months. That makes its dissemination easier compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
There are not currently as many doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as Americans had hoped. The company is stating by the end of June they will have 100 million doses. The single-dose vaccine has been provided the green light by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin shipping out doses this coming week. It is ready to be administered to individuals 18 years or older, which is a step that Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner indicates is a game-changer, reported Yahoo News.
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The CDC recommendation is the final regulatory step required before a third COVID-19 vaccine could be made accessible to the public. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in an emergency meeting assessed the vaccine trial data and voted to endorse the vaccine.
'Booster' in Those With Prior Coronavirus Infection
People who have earlier had COVID-19 have a bolstered antibody response with a single dose of RNA vaccine, according to new research co-led by UCL researchers. These are the findings of a study in the "Lancet," of 51 United Kingdom healthcare workers. Around half of whom had an earlier laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Trials discovered it alleviated severe illness but was 66% effective overall when moderate cases were involved. It was created mainly by J&J's Janssen Pharmaceutica division.
Health experts are anticipating a one-and-done option to help accelerate vaccinations. This is as they race against a virus that already has recorded over 510,000 people in the United States and is mutating in increasingly concerning ways. According to the FDA, J&J's vaccine provides strong protection against what matters most: hospitalizations, severe illness, and death.
