The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday formally accepted their advisory panel’s recommendation that Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine could be given to people 18 and older in the United States.
The announcement by CDC Director Rochelle WalenskyRochelle Walensky Overnight Health Care: FDA Panel Endorses Johnson & Johnson Vaccine | CDC Director Warns Decline in ‘Potential Crash’ Cases | Biden Administration Buys 100,000 Doses of Lilly Antibody Drug FDA Panel Endorses Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine CDC Director Warns Decline in COVID-19 Cases ‘May Be Stuck’ in ‘Regarding Shift’ MORE vaccinations can begin as soon as doses are received.
Walensky called the decision “another milestone on the way to an end to the pandemic.”
“This vaccine is also another important tool in our toolkit to fairly vaccinate as many people as possible as soon as possible,” Walensky said in a statement.
A senior government official told reporters Sunday night that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will immediately ship 3.9 million doses, and vaccine distribution centers will begin receiving them on Tuesday.
Experts have said the vaccine can be targeted at places such as rural communities, health centers, and individual doctor’s offices because of its relatively simple storage requirements.
However, senior officials said the goal is equitable distribution, and doses will be allocated to states by population, as will the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Most communities will have doses of all three vaccines, but not every vaccination site due to limited availability. Officials stressed that people should take any vaccine available.
A government official said the 3.9 million doses are Johnson & Johnson’s entire inventory. There will be no additional deliveries next week, and the official said governors are aware that the distribution will be “uneven” in early and mid-March.
A total of 20 million doses of J & J’s vaccine will be shipped in March, but they will become more concentrated by the end of the month. The US has paid for 100 million doses, which the company has committed will be delivered by June.
The US paid more than $ 1 billion to help manufacture and supply J & J’s vaccine. Nearly a year ago, the company also won $ 465 million in federal funding for vaccine research and development, bringing the US total. before the project reached nearly $ 1.5 billion.
The nation’s third coronavirus vaccine comes days after the United States surpassed 500,000 COVID-19 deaths.
While the number of nursing home deaths has fallen sharply, as have the number of cases and deaths in general, the CDC warns that the decline in the number of new cases has stalled due to an increase in more contagious variants of the virus.
At the same time, governors across the country are lifting coronavirus restrictions, including mask mandates and capacity limits, despite warning signs of a new spike in virus mutations.
“This third safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine comes at a potentially critical time,” Walensky said in the statement.
“The latest data from CDC suggests that the recent declines in COVID-19 cases may be stalling and possibly leveling off at still very high numbers. That is why it is so important that we remain vigilant and consistently take all measures. steps we know work to stop the spread of COVID-19 as we work our way towards mass vaccination, ”Walensky said.
Updated at 6:22 PM