Participants who received the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine in an early study developed coronavirus immunity for at least 71 days, but a production gap could mean a lower dose than promised, it reported on Wednesday. New York Times.
Why does it matter: If approved, the J&J vaccine would be the first available to protect against single-dose COVID, simplifying the administration and distribution of the vaccine.
The whole picture: The US government signed a $ 1 billion contract with J&J in August last year. The drug company has promised that 12 million doses of its vaccine will be ready by the end of February and a total of 100 million doses by the end of June.
- J&J fell two months ago and will probably not catch up until the end of April, reports the Times.
- This could lead to a shortage of doses once spring comes; the federal government has provided enough to vaccinate 200 million of the approximately 260 million eligible adults in the first half of 2021.
Yes but: The J&J vaccine, which results in the development of neutralizing antibodies, is long-lasting and freeze-free, such as Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech photos, per Bloomberg.
- The J&J vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperature for three months.
What are they saying: “The pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down and we, like everyone else, are eager for more tools to help stop it,” J&J said in a statement to Axios.
- “We have started production of our vaccine candidate and we are confident in our ability to meet our 2021 supply commitments signed with governments and we expect to share more details after some of these steps are completed.”
What to look for: The results of a late study of 45,000 volunteers will provide more data in the coming weeks, but the company anticipates a high effectiveness rate at or above 70%, scientific director Paul Stoffels told Bloomberg.
- J&J has also started a separate late-stage study of its two-dose vaccination process in November and expects data this summer.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with Johnson & Johnson’s statement.