FDA Approves Single-Shot Vaccine

Shipments could begin Monday, Johnson & Johnson says
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 27, 2021 5:40 PM CST
FDA Approves Single-Shot Vaccine
A vial of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is displayed in Belgium.   (Johnson & Johnson via AP)

The US is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Health experts are eagerly awaiting a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations, as they race against a virus that already has killed more than 510,000 people in the US and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways. The FDA said Johnson & Johnson's vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations, and death, the AP reports. One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness, in a large study that spanned three continents—protection that remained strong even in countries such as South Africa, where the variants of most concern are spreading.

"The more vaccines that have high efficacy that we can get into play, the better," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said ahead of the FDA's ruling. Shipments of a few million doses to be divided among states could begin as early as Monday. By the end of March, the company has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses to the US, and 100 million by summer. Johnson & Johnson also is seeking authorization for emergency use of its vaccine in Europe and from the World Health Organization. Worldwide, the company aims to produce about 1 billion doses globally by the end of the year. On Thursday, the island nation of Bahrain became the first to clear its use.

(More coronavirus vaccine stories.)

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