The American company "Johnson & Johnson" announced the development of a single-dose vaccine against Covid-19, which is the first vaccine with this feature so far, so how does it work?

What are its other most prominent features?

What is its effectiveness compared to other vaccines?

How it works?

The vaccine is based on a modified adenovirus - a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms - that is designed to transfer parts of the genetic material from the "spike" protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. ), Which is the scientific name for the emerging corona virus, according to a report in Newsweek.

What is the temperature needed to keep it?

The vaccine can remain stable for two years at -20 ° C, and at least 3 months at 2-8 ° C, like a home refrigerator, according to the company.

This is a positive point, because the possibility of storing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at normal refrigerator temperatures facilitates its distribution.

How much will it cost?

Johnson & Johnson announced that it will provide the vaccine on a "non-profit" basis for the duration of the pandemic, at a cost of about $ 10 a dose.

What is its effectiveness?

The company said that the vaccine was found to be effective 28 days after vaccination, and 85% effective in preventing acute cases of Covid-19 in all areas studied.

She indicated that its vaccine is 72% effective in the United States in preventing Covid-19 disease, but the effectiveness decreases to 66% globally, as observed in a large trial conducted across 3 continents and against multiple strains.

In the experiment conducted on 44,000 volunteers, the level of protection from moderate and severe Covid-19 was 66% in Latin America, and only 57% in South Africa, where a strain of more concern than the emerging corona virus is spreading.

These results are below the high level of protection recorded by two vaccines currently approved for use by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and large trials have shown that their success rate in preventing symptomatic disease is about 95% after two doses. .

However, these experiments were mainly conducted in the United States and before the widespread spread of the new strains on which the spotlight is currently focused.

The main objective of the study on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was to prevent moderate and severe infections, and it was proved that the vaccine is 85% effective in stopping acute disease and preventing hospitalizations in different geographically and against numbers of strains within 28 days of vaccination.

Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of "Johnson & Johnson," said that the level of prevention "may protect hundreds of millions of people from the severe and fatal consequences of Covid-19."

Is the vaccine effective against new strains?

Studies have included cases of the rapidly spreading strains of Covid-19 that have recently appeared in places such as South Africa and Brazil, and the vaccine was found to be less effective against these strains.

When will you start giving it to people?

Johnson & Johnson will require the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for permission for emergency use by next February, and aims to have the vaccines ready for shipment shortly thereafter.

The company pledged to deliver 100 million doses to the United States before the end of next June, about 200 million doses to the European Union before the end of the year (the first shipments will be received in April), and about 200 million doses to developing countries (delivery of doses begins after June. Next).