CDC director approves J&J’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, making it ready for supply
The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accepted Johnson & Johnson’s one shot Covid -19 vaccine for those 18 years of age and older as the Biden administration prepares to ship out millions of doses this week.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s approval comes after an advisory panel to the CDC voted unanimously to recommend the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. “Today marks an encouraging step toward an end to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Walensky wrote on Twitter.
J&J Vice President of Medical Affairs Dr. Richard Nettles said that the company expects to be able to provide 20 million doses by the end of March. He told lawmakers on Tuesday that the company is equipped to ship nearly 4 million doses as soon as it receives emergency use permission.
On Saturday, the advisory committee met in an emergency session to review data on the vaccine and became the third shot to receive an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The federal government can now start shipping doses out to sites across the country.
The availability of the J&J shot will boost the U.S. supply of vaccines.
The J&J shot was 100% effective at preventing death and hospitalizations caused by Covid-19 in clinical trials. J&J’s vaccine differs from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech because of its one-dose regimen and its ability to be stored in a refrigerator, both of which make distribution and administration much easier.
The vaccine was significantly less effective in people 60 and older who also have comorbidities such as diabetes or heart disease, according to FDA review. The agency responded that the data was too sparse to conclude.
In contrast, Pfizer’s vaccine was found to be 95% effective while Moderna’s was found to be about 94% effective against preventing Covid in clinical trials. Infectious disease experts pointed out that J&J’s numbers can’t be used to compare the other two vaccines because it’s a single dose and the company’s trial was conducted when there were more infections as well as new, more contagious variants. It plans to ship the vaccine, which contains five doses per vial, at 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
