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Participants who received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine in an early study developed immunity to coronaviruses for at least 71 days, but a delay in production could mean a rollout of fewer doses than promised, the Wednesday reported New York Times.
Why is this important: If approved, J & J’s vaccine would be the first available to protect against COVID with a single dose, streamlining the administration and distribution of vaccines.
The big picture: The US government signed a billion dollar contract with J&J last August. The pharmaceutical company has pledged 12 million doses of its vaccine will be ready for deployment by the end of February and a total of 100 million doses by the end of June.
- J&J is up to two months behind its schedule and likely won’t catch up until the end of April, the Times reports.
- This could lead to a shortage of doses once spring arrives; the federal government only got enough money to immunize 200 million of the roughly 260 million eligible adults in the first half of 2021.
Yes, but: J & J’s vaccine, which causes the development of neutralizing antibodies, is durable and does not require freezing like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech injections, according to Bloomberg.
- J & J’s vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperature for three months.
What they say: “The pandemic shows no signs of slowing down, and we, like everyone else, look forward to having more tools to help stop it,” J&J said in a statement to Axios.
- “We have started production of our vaccine candidate and are confident in our ability to meet our signed 2021 procurement commitments with governments, and we plan to share more details once some of these milestones are completed.”
What to watch: Results of an advanced trial of 45,000 volunteers will provide more data in the coming weeks, but the company predicts a high efficiency rate of 70% or more, scientific director Paul Stoffels told Bloomberg.
- J&J also began a separate late-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 Johnson & Johnson statement.
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