COVID-19: Johnson and Johnson's single-dose vaccine 'offers strong protection', says FDA

As per an analysis which was released on Wednesday, February 24, by the US regulators, the Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine "offers strong protection" against the deadly coronavirus. This analysis is the first step in the FDA's evaluation. On Friday, February 26, the agency's independent advisers will debate if the evidence is strong enough to recommend the shot. After this, the FDA is expected to make a final decision. 

A recent analysis 

This shot could offer the nation a third vaccine option and help in speeding up the vaccinations. FDA researchers have confirmed that overall the vaccine is 66 per cent effective. Also, it is 85 per cent effective against severe illness. The agency further said that the J&J shot is safe.

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A vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who is also a part of the FDA advisory panel that will scrutinize the J&J data, Dr Paul Offit encouraged that one dose of the J&J vaccine appears as good at preventing serious illness as the other two-dose vaccines. He said, "This is a vaccine to prevent you from going to the hospital and dying at a level that’s certainly comparable” to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines". Dr Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former FDA vaccine chief said, "I was reassured” that despite different variants, the J&J shot was still protected against serious illness". He said, "That’s pretty robust data." 

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As a part of the analysis, the J&J shot was tested on 44,000 adults in the US, Latin America and South Africa. The analysis cautioned that it’s not clear how well the vaccine works against each variant. It was concluded that the vaccine worked better in the US as it is 77 per cent effective against moderate to severe COVID-19 infections. In Latin America, it is 66 per cent and 57 per cent in South Africa.

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(Image Credits: AP)