Johnson & Johnson's Single-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine Is FDA-Approved
The first batch of doses might be distributed this week in the United States.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Johnson & Johnson‘s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the third one available to Americans aged 18 and above. According to BBC, the “cost-effective alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines” can be “stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer.”
J&J’s vaccine provides strong protection against the effects of COVID-19 and is proven to be “85 percent effective at preventing serious illness, and 66 percent effective overall when moderate cases were included.” “The more vaccines that have high efficacy that we can get into play, the better,” U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a statement.
Bloomberg has reported that J&J is requesting to ship its vaccine for emergency use in Europe. The company aims to produce around one billion doses by the end of the year for the rest of the world to acquire.
One hundred million doses will be available in the U.S. by the end of June, with the first batch potentially rolling out this week. Head over to the FDA’s website to learn more about the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.