Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine began shipping Monday morning, and Americans should begin receiving a single dose injection within a day or two, said the company’s CEO.
The vaccine is “in the trucks while we talk,” Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said on Monday on NBC’s “TODAY” program.
“We are shipping 4 million literally right now,” said Gorsky. “In the next 24 to 48 hours, Americans should start receiving gunshots.”
He added that 100 million shots are expected to be distributed by June and one billion by the end of the year. And a billion doses means a billion people vaccinated, since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is administered in a single dose. The other vaccines available, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are administered in two doses each, with an interval of three to four weeks.
The J&J vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization on Saturday, is also the easiest to store, as it can be kept in the refrigerator instead of the freezer.
Although the vaccine is 66 percent effective overall, the injection works 85 percent of the time against serious illnesses and is 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and death.
Clinical trials were conducted when cases were at their peak, and some were conducted in South Africa and Brazil, where a dangerous variant has spread.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that the country now has three “highly effective vaccines” that provide significant protection against Covid-19. He urged Americans to choose what is available to them when they become eligible.
Although the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is administered in a single dose, the company is studying the impact of a second dose.
Johnson & Johnson will also begin to study the safety of the vaccine in pregnant women and children over 12, said Gorsky.
