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The US health authorities gave the go-ahead to the vaccine.
The US authorities approved this Saturday the use of the single-dose vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, the third that receives the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The vaccine is seen as an efficient alternative to those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, since it only requires one dose and can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer, as the other two require.
Trials showed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 66% effective, prevents the development of severe symptoms of the disease, and no hospitalizations or deaths were reported.
The United States thus becomes the first country to allow the use of the vaccine developed by the Belgian manufacturer Janssen.
The company has promised to deliver 100 million doses to the United States before the end of June, although US media have reported that it has faced problems with production.
The United Kingdom and Canada have also placed orders and another 500 million doses will be channeled through the Covax program, which seeks to ensure that vaccines also reach less developed countries.
Each vaccine has different characteristics.
The FDA clearance came after a committee of independent experts voted unanimously in favor on Friday.
The results of the trials carried out in the United States, South Africa and Brazil revealed an efficacy greater than 85% in the prevention of the development of severe symptoms and of 66% when the cases of moderate disease were also counted.
There were no deaths or hospital admissions among the volunteers who received the vaccine in the 28 days after it was administered.
Overall protection was lower in South Africa and Brazil, where variants of the virus have become predominant, but the defense that the vaccine offered there against severe or critical symptoms of the disease was also “high.”
South Africa this month began injecting its healthcare workers with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after trials showed that the Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine offered “minimal protection against moderate disease caused by the most widespread variant of the virus. in the country.
Johnson & Johnson says it plans to deliver 20 million doses in total by the end of March.
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