Johnson & Johnson Releases Single Dose COVID-19 Vaccine
On Sunday, February 28th, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they had granted an issue of emergency use authorization to a 1-dosage vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson. The vaccine provides an effectiveness rate of 66% for moderate to severe cases of COVID-19, as well as boasting an 85% effectiveness rate in protection against a severe form of COVID-19. Among those who were trialed with the vaccine prior to the authorization being given, it was reported that no one was either hospitalized or passed away.
So how does this vaccine work in preventing the spread of COVID-19?
According to statnews.com, it is stated that “The J&J vaccine uses a different approach to instruct human cells to make the SARS-2 spike protein, which then triggers an immune response. It is what’s known as a viral vectored vaccine. A harmless adenovirus — from a large family of viruses, some of which cause common colds — has been engineered to carry the genetic code for the SARS-2 spike protein. Once the adenovirus enters cells, they use that code to make spike proteins.” So basically, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is made from an adenovirus, which has the genetic code for COVID-19 within it, and this is injected into the body and goes right to the cells, which will automatically trigger an immune response, making the vaccine recipient seemingly immune to COVID-19.
Compared to the vaccines released by Pfizer, Moderna, and BioNTech, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less effective, but yields similar results to the common goal: stopping the spread of COVID-19, eradicating the virus once, and for all.
But what some may not realize is, the COVID vaccine is 20 years in the making. In February 2003, the original Coronavirus spread across the world, but however, this original Coronavirus did not affect the United States and was mainly in countries like China, Canada, and so forth.
Whether this vaccine truly works in the effort to rid the world of COVID-19, one thing is assured, and that is we are truly nearing the end of these dark and troubling times, and we should keep our heads high and march on for a little while longer.
