The Johnson and Johnson one dose COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization on Friday and doses of the newest vaccine should arrive in the state this week. Tulane School of Medicine Professor Dr. Lisa Morici said data shows the J & J vaccine doesn’t have any of the rare severe allergic reactions shown with the other two vaccines currently in use.
“The safety profile across all age groups, ethnicities, individuals with co-morbidities, and even people with prior COVID infection there’s really just mild side effects, like pain at the injection site,” said Morici.
Morici said don’t get caught up with the stats that J&J’s has an overall efficacy rate of 66-percent versus in the 90-percent and greater of the other vaccines.
“But what’s really great about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, like the other vaccines that are authorized for use, is that it does a really excellent job at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths,” said Morici.
When given the opportunity to be vaccinated, Morici said to take whichever vaccine is first offered.
Besides being one-dose, Morici said the J & J vaccine also doesn’t require extensive cold storage like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines making it ideal for transport in rural areas.
“The fact that it’s easier to store, and it’s one-dose it’s going to be able to get to a lot more people, a lot more quickly which is great,” said Morici.
On Thursday, State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said that once approved the state anticipated receiving up to 38,000 doses of the J & J vaccine this week in addition to the weekly allocation of more than 97,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
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