Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved single-dose vaccine could be shipped to states as early as Monday – with more than 164,000 doses allocated to New York in the first round of deliveries.
The Empire State is preparing to receive 164,800 doses of the vaccine this week, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As part of the shipment, New York City will receive 71,100 of the shots, the agency said.
Johnson & Johnson said it has 4 million doses of its vaccine ready to be shipped immediately after obtaining federal approval.
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency clearance on Saturday for inoculation, which will be the first COVID-19 dose vaccine available in the United States. The single dose was shown to be 85 percent protective against the most severe cases of COVID-19 in a large global study.
The CDC’s Immunization Practices Advisory Committee on Sunday approved guidance to allow the vaccine to be administered to people aged 18 and over – the final release before launch, NPR reported.
Johnson & Johnson said the launch of its vaccine could begin on Monday, CBS said.
The shot will join the country’s arsenal in the fight against the pandemic. The two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer are currently being used.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that the state had already consumed 89% of its supply of the first doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
“Our large and growing network of distribution sites is receiving more and more shots across the state, but we are limited by the supply of available vaccines,” said Cuomo in a statement, echoing what state and local authorities have been complaining about for weeks.
“The federal government has expanded the supply of vaccines, but there is still a long way to go before we can reach a large portion of the state’s population.”
With Post Wires