Feds clear the way for a new vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday took a step toward approving a new COVID-19 vaccine. This one, developed by Johnson & Johnson, requires just one dose to be effective and could provide a much-needed boost to vaccination efforts across the country.

What Happened: A panel of scientists released their analysis of the new vaccine on Wednesday. They said the vaccine is 66% effective at preventing COVID-19 infections and that it meets the requirements for emergency use authorization.

That authorization still has to be discussed and voted on by an FDA panel. That group will meet on Friday and is expected to approve the vaccine.

What It Is: The new vaccine is very different from ones currently being produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

Both current vaccines are a brand new class of drugs that use the body’s own cells to produce viral particles to train the immune system. The J&J vaccine is a traditional one. It uses a weakened adenovirus to bring coronavirus particles into the body to train the immune system.

The J&J vaccine is superior to the current vaccines in that it requires only one dose and doesn’t need to be stored at the super-cold temperatures required by the other two vaccines.

Experts have stated that the J&J vaccine appears to be effective against emerging variants of the coronavirus.

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