AUGUSTA, Georgia. (WRDW / WAGT) – Although the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-dose vaccine has not yet been shipped to the two-state region, health officials in Georgia and South Carolina know how many doses they will receive.
South Carolina health officials said the state should receive 41,000 doses of the newly approved vaccine this week.
Meanwhile, an allocation of 83,000 doses of the vaccine is listed on the Georgia vaccine panel.
The Food and Drug Administration gave the vaccine, also known as the Janssen vaccine, authorization for emergency use on Saturday.
The vaccine is considered 85% effective overall in preventing serious illnesses and has demonstrated complete protection against hospitalization and death related to COVID-19 on the 28th day after vaccination. It can be stored for at least three months at 36-46 degrees Fahrenheit and has high protection against serious illness and death observed in all study sites, including South Africa, where variant B.1.351 is dominant.
The Georgia Department of Public Health has a new council to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed equally.
Georgia creates council to monitor vaccine equity
The council is responsible for tracking which communities are getting the vaccine and which are not.
The board is also responsible for disseminating information about the safety of vaccines. At the moment, surveys show that 83% of black Georgians do not plan to get the vaccine, while 38% of Hispanics are against it.
University hospital serving fewer coronavirus patients
Augusta University Hospital is seeing a significant decline in patients with COVID-19.
Last month, the hospital saw 98 patients discharged, but now it has dropped to 35.
The hospital has seen a reduction of 16 since Friday.
Less than two months ago, the hospital was overburdened with a historical record of 149 patients.
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