Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine will begin commercialization in the United States on Monday morning, marking the third dose in the country’s arsenal after a green light from the FDA and a panel with the Centers for Control and Prevention Disease Control (CDC).
McKesson, the distribution partner selected by the government for the vaccination effort, announced on Monday that it had started distributing the new vaccine. Activity at the McKesson Clermont facility in Shepherdsville, Ky. On Monday morning he saw bottles packed in insulated coolers and loaded on UPS trucks. McKesson noted that there are four distribution centers involved with the launch of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, told co-hosts of NBC’s “Today” program on Monday that the shots could go to the guns in the next two days.
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“Well, we think that literally within 24 to 48 hours Americans should start getting gunfire, they are literally going out with the trucks as we speak,” said Gorsky, in part.
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A Johnson & Johnson executive said earlier that nearly 4 million doses would be shipped this week, with 20 million doses available by the end of March, although the offer is expected to be irregular this month. The company expects to deliver 60 million vaccines by spring and 100 million vaccines in the United States by mid-2021.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, released a statement on Sunday after an advisory panel recommended the vaccine for adults 18 and over.
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“As vaccination increases, so does our nation’s overall protection against serious results due to COVID-19,” Walensky said, in part, in the statement. “The Janssen vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19.”
Johnson & Johnson previously said that its single injection vaccine against coronavirus has shown 72% effectiveness in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 in the U.S., but has dropped to 66% in a larger study conducted worldwide. The mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna were more than 90% effective in clinical trials.