The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine got one step closer to distribution as the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee granted the vaccine an emergency use authorization for people over the age of 18, CNN reports.
The vaccine went through clinical trials involving more than 44,000 people in the US, South Africa and Latin America. The vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate-to-severe disease globally. In the US, this efficacy was 72% and it was 85% effective in preventing severe disease. None of the trial participants died of the vaccine during the trial.
The J&J vaccine is a single dose inoculation which does not require extremely cold storage, making it easier to distribute and providing availability at additional locations.
More than 50 million people have received at least one dose of the available vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, and more than 1.3 million people per day are getting doses. It is hoped that the easier distribution and single-dose nature of the J&J vaccine makes it more accessible.
“We urgently need more vaccines under EUA to protect the millions of Americans who remain at risk,” Dr. Greg Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, told the meeting.