The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use, making it the third vaccine available to the U.S. public and securing yet another vital step in the U.S. struggle to control Covid-19.
The decision was a formality after an advisory panel of independent experts late Friday afternoon recommended that drug regulators approve the single vaccine.
The move is a boost to the Biden government’s vaccination plans as it aims to combat a pandemic that got out of hand under Donald Trump amid an unsuccessful response that was marked by unscientific sentiment, skepticism about wearing masks and promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories.
“Authorizing this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best method of medical prevention for Covid-19, to help us fight this pandemic, which claimed more than half a million lives in the United States,” said the FDA’s interim commissioner. Janet Woodcock in a statement.
Janssen – a vaccine subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson – said at a congressional hearing this week that it expects to deliver 20 million doses by March and a total of 100 million doses before the end of June. This means that the new vaccine, along with those already in circulation by Pfizer and Moderna, should provide the United States with more than enough to vaccinate all eligible people.
Joe Biden promised that there will be enough vaccines for all Americans by the end of July and said that as soon as the latest version is available “we have a plan to implement it as soon as Johnson & Johnson can do”. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical consultant, said he was “a little disappointed” with the initial number of doses provided by Johnson & Johnson, but that production will increase significantly during the spring.
So far, more than 510,000 people have died of coronavirus in America and more than 28 million have tested positive – both the worst numbers in the world. Currently, about 267 million Americans are eligible for a Covid vaccine.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would also be the easiest to distribute among the system’s vaccines. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be stored at ordinary refrigerator temperatures for up to three months.
But that convenience comes with caveats. The company’s clinical tests were the first to show the potential impacts of Covid-19 variants, or evolutionary changes in the virus, on the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The vaccine was found to be 85% effective in preventing serious illness and providing complete protection against hospitalization and death related to Covid-19 after 28 days. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been shown to be 72% effective in clinical trials in the USA, but only 57% effective in South Africa, where a variant called B1351 originated.
“With today’s authorization, we are adding another vaccine to our medical toolbox to fight this virus,” said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biological Research and Evaluation.