Participants who received the Johnson & Johnson one-time vaccine in an early study developed immunity to coronavirus for at least 71 days, but a production delay could mean a rollout of less than promised doses, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Why it matters: If approved, J & J’s vaccine would be the first available to protect against COVID with a single dose, streamlining vaccine delivery and distribution.
The big picture: The US government signed a $ 1 billion contract with J&J last August. The pharmaceutical company promised that 12 million doses of its vaccine would be ready for use by the end of February and a total of 100 million doses by the end of June.
- J&J is a whopping two months behind schedule and likely won’t catch up until the end of April, the Times reports.
- This can lead to a shortage of doses once spring arrives; the federal government has only secured enough to vaccinate 200 million of the approximately 260 million eligible adults in the first half of 2021.
Yes but: J & J’s vaccine, which results in the development of neutralizing antibodies, is long-lasting and does not need to be frozen like the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots, according to Bloomberg.
- J & J’s vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for three months.
What they say: “The pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down and we, like everyone else, are looking forward to more tools to stop it,” J&J said in a statement to Axios.
- “We have begun production of our vaccine candidate and are confident that we will be able to meet our 2021 delivery commitments signed with governments, and we expect to share more details after some of the these steps has been completed. “
What to watch: Results from a late-stage study involving 45,000 volunteers will provide more data in the coming weeks, but the company expect high efficiency of 70% or more, Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels told Bloomberg.
- J&J also began a separate late-stage trial of the two-dose vaccination process in November and is expecting data this summer.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with Johnson & Johnson’s statement.