A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel is preparing to weigh whether to grant the emergency use of a third vaccine against COVID-19. The new vaccine requires only a single dose, but it is less effective against all cases of COVID.
The company Johnson and Johnson says in trials its vaccine was effective at preventing roughly two-thirds of moderate cases of COVID-19, but 85 percent effective against severe cases.
The chair of the FDA advisory panel, the University of Michigan’s Arnold Monto, says that’s vital for regions where COVID-19 cases threaten to overwhelm health care systems.
“We would love to be able to prevent milder disease as well. But the key element here is trying to keep people out of the hospital.”
The panel says it will review data from Johnson and Johnson at the end of the month.
If approved, the company has said it would be ready to deliver 100 million doses of the new vaccine by June.