On Monday, the United States will begin implementing a single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19

A panel of federal advisers voted unanimously on Sunday to recommend the nation’s third coronavirus vaccine for people 18 and over, paving the way for the easier-to-use Johnson & Johnson vaccine, given in a single dose starting this week.

Meeting in an emergency session, Consultants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have strongly endorsed the vaccine’s effectiveness in fully protecting against hospitalization and death. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the first licensed vaccine in the United States and does not need to be frozen or followed by a second injection.

The permission to give a third vaccine comes at a critical time in the pandemic: After weeks of steady decline in new cases in the United States, the downward trend has halted, “a very worrying change in course,” said CDC director Rochelle Walinsky Friday. Experts are concerned that state and local authorities are easing restrictions too quickly. And that people are giving up their guard even as the most contagious and potentially deadly variants of the virus grow. Almost a year ago, authorities announced what is believed to be the first death from the Coronavirus in the United States. Since then, there have been more than 500,000 deaths from covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the United States.

“Coronavirus cases and deaths are declining,” said Beth Bell, a global health expert at the University of Washington who leads the committee’s working group on coronavirus vaccination. “But the epidemic is not over and we have many challenges ahead. The need for safer, more effective vaccines remains urgent and vital to end the epidemic. “

The action by the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee comes after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the vaccine for people 18 years of age or older on Saturday. Walensky is expected to approve the committee’s action shortly after the vote, making it an official CDC recommendation for healthcare providers.

Doses are expected to begin shipping on Monday to sites already receiving doses of licensed vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. These places include government health departments, pharmacies, federally classified health centers, and community vaccination centers.

Johnson & Johnson’s initial supply will be limited: nearly 4 million doses are expected to be shipped this week, an estimated 20 million doses, by the end of March., The officials said. But state officials already know what to expect because the number of expected doses of the three vaccines was included in the information they received last week.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85% effective in protecting against severe cases of the disease in recent trials, and there were no deaths or hospitalizations a month after participants received the vaccine. The vaccine was somewhat less effective in preventing mild disease (72% effective in the United States), as more transmissible variants began to be discovered only recently. Some experts are concerned that the public will notice the data and stop receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in favor of other vaccines tested earlier in the pandemic, when these variables were not a factor.

Saad Omar said, “While there are differences in the effectiveness of the three vaccines for moderate diseases, the more severe the outcome, the more similar the effectiveness.” Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, who is not on the committee. In other words, we now have three highly effective vaccines available in the United States, especially against dangerous outcomes like hospitalization and death. This single-dose vaccine, which can be stored at refrigerator temperatures, is likely to improve the ability of health departments and health systems to conduct mass vaccination. And the step that determines the rate at which doses will continue to be available. “

Members and advocates of vaccination have expressed concern that information regarding vaccine efficacy is confusing the public and making vaccination more difficult in hard-to-reach communities. “We really need simple language and clear public education about the difference between clinical trial effectiveness and real-world efficacy,” Karen Ernst, who runs Voices for Vaccines, a parent advocacy group, said during the public comment period.

Committee members said doing so would leave people unprotected and delay the end of the epidemic.

Officials stressed that the vaccines were tested at different times, against different circulating variants, and in places with different levels of transmission.

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