Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine “checks almost every box” on a list of what is needed in a coronavirus vaccine, said Dr. Greg Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group, on Friday -market.
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 said at a meeting of vaccine consultants for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We need a vaccine that can be mass-produced quickly,” said Poland. “We would like to see a reasonable duration of effectiveness and protection.
“The Janssen vaccine candidate checks almost every box.”
The FDA Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) is meeting to discuss the vaccine and will vote on Friday whether to recommend FDA emergency use authorization. The FDA almost always follows the committee’s recommendations.
“There are only three ways to control the pandemic,” Poland told the committee. “The first is a rigid blockade,” with universal masking and social detachment, he said. “Secondly, the virus is mutated to be less transmissible,” he added – but noted that more transmissible variants are already emerging and spreading.
The third is vaccination. “Vaccines are our main weapons to combat and control this threat,” said Poland.
He noted that the vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division was studied in several countries when the virus was spreading rapidly – and when new variants were circulating.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which, if authorized, would be the third to be approved for the U.S., provided 85% protection against serious illness and the need for hospitalization in advanced Phase 3 clinical trials.