COVID-19: Johnson & Johnson Single-dose Vaccine could be ‘Game Changer’

USA TODAY/

A COVID vaccine being developed by New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson could dramatically speed up the fight against the pandemic because, unlike the two vaccines already in use, this one would require only one dose and would not need to be stored at super-cold temperatures.

Results from clinical trials of the new vaccine – developed and produced by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division – are expected by the end of this month. The vaccine could become the third authorized by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

“If it comes through, that’s a game-changer,” Gov. Phil Murphy said.

Johnson & Johnson had promised 100 million doses of its vaccine to the U.S. government by the end of the year. Leaders of Operation Warp Speed, the federal program to develop and manufacture a COVID vaccine, said this month that unspecified production issues likely would slow the arrival of the initial doses.