Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Approved in the US will be a “Game Changer.” The US drug agency FDA has officially given the green light to Johnson & Johnson’s corona vaccine.
This makes the vaccine the third vaccine to be approved in the US. President Biden calls the approval a big step out of the crisis but calls for vigilance.
It is still awaiting the European Medicines Agency’s support: it will discuss the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on 11 March. In the US, a committee of independent experts had already given its blessing for the vaccine’s emergency approval on Friday. But now, the vaccine has also been approved by the FDA drug agency. Immediately after acceptance, Johnson & Johnson began shipping the vaccine across the US.
“66 per cent effectiveness”: exactly how well does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work? Johnson & Johnson, which also includes the Belgian Janssen Pharmaceutica, indicated a few days ago that it wants to deliver 20 million doses to the US by the end of March. For the entire first half of 2021, this would amount to 100 million doses.
There are already two vaccines on the American market, but only one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is needed. “It is expected that this will be a game-changer in the US”, VRT correspondent Björn Soenens said. “There were already two vaccines on the market, but there were not yet enough doses to vaccinate every American. Johnson & Johnson is improving because it only takes one dose to be protected.”
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is also easier to store than that of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech. It can be kept at refrigerator temperature. According to the FDA, the vaccine is safe, and 72 per cent effective in the US.
The first doses of the J&J vaccine are expected in April. Earlier this month, the company already applied the European medicines watchdog EMA, and a judgment is expected in mid-March.
President Biden calls for vigilance. Thus, the approval is a boost for the US, where the vaccination campaign has gained momentum after an initially slow roll-out. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American centre for disease prevention, 47.2 million Americans have already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
US President Joe Biden was therefore pleased with the approval of a third corona vaccine and called for vigilance. “This is great news for all Americans and an encouraging step in our efforts to end the crisis,” Biden said in a press release. “But we must not let our guard down or assume that victory has now been won,” he added.