Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine “checks nearly all the boxes” on a list of what’s needed in a coronavirus vaccine, said Dr. Greg Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, Friday.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe and effective, and has the advantage of being a single-dose vaccine that has no special storage requirements, Poland told a meeting of vaccine advisers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We need a vaccine that can be mass-produced quickly,” said Poland. “We want to see a reasonable duration of efficacy and protection.
“The Janssen vaccination candidate checks almost all boxes.”
The FDA’s Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) is meeting to discuss the vaccine and will vote later Friday on whether or not to recommend FDA authorization for emergency use. The FDA almost always follows the committee’s recommendations.
“There are only three ways in which the pandemic can be controlled,” Poland told the commission. “The first is a hard lockdown,” with universal masking and social distance, he said. Second, the virus mutates to be less transmissible, he added – but noted that more transmissible variants are already emerging and spreading.
Third is vaccination. “Vaccines are our main weapons to counter and control this threat,” said Poland.
He noted that the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division was being studied in multiple countries as the virus spread rapidly – and as new variants circulated.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which, if approved, would be the third in order for the US, provided 85% protection against serious illness and the need for hospitalization in advanced Phase 3 clinical trials.