Participants who received the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine in an initial study developed immunity to coronavirus for at least 71 days, but a delay in production may mean a launch of lower doses than promised, the New York Times reported in Wednesday.
Why it matters: If approved, the J&J vaccine would be the first available to protect COVID with a single dose, speeding up the administration and distribution of the vaccine.
The big picture: The US government signed a $ 1 billion contract with J&J last August. The pharmaceutical company promised that 12 million doses of its vaccine would be ready for implantation by the end of February this year and a total of 100 million doses by the end of June.
- J&J was delayed by up to two months and is unlikely to be late until late April, the Times reports.
- This can lead to a shortage of doses when spring arrives; the federal government guaranteed just enough to vaccinate 200 million of the approximately 260 million eligible adults in the first half of 2021.
Yes but: The J&J vaccine, which results in the development of neutralizing antibodies, is long-lasting and does not require freezing like the injections of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, according to Bloomberg.
- The J&J vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperature for three months.
What they are saying: “The pandemic shows no signs of slowing down and we, like everyone, are looking forward to more tools to help stop it,” said J&J in a statement to Axios.
- “We have started production of our candidate vaccine and we are confident in our ability to meet our 2021 supply commitments signed with governments, and we hope to share more details after some of these steps are completed.”
What to watch: The results of a final stage test of 45,000 volunteers will provide more data in the coming weeks, but the company predicts a high effectiveness rate of 70% or more, scientific director Paul Stoffels told Bloomberg.
- J&J also started a separate final-stage study of its two-dose vaccination process in November and expects data this summer.
Editor’s note: this story has been updated with the statement from Johnson & Johnson.