Johnson & Johnson single dose Covid-19 vaccine shows 66% efficacy

"Not a single person who got vaccinated, and had illness after four weeks, ended up in the hospital."

A single shot of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine is effective in preventing moderate to severe illness due to Covid-19. According to interim data published from a phase-3 trial, the single dose vaccine has shown 66% efficacy at preventing moderate and severe Covid-19. The company said the vaccine had a 72% efficacy in preventing Covid-19 in its US trial but a lower rate of 66% was observed in a larger global trial which tested against multiple variants. The vaccine also proved 85% effective in preventing severe disease and showed complete protection against Covid-related hospitalisation and death as of day 28. "Not a single person who got vaccinated, and had illness after four weeks, ended up in the hospital," Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of pharmaceutical research and development at Johnson & Johnson, told NBC News. The trial included almost 44,000 participants and no significant safety concerns were reported. J&J’s chief executive, Alex Gorsky, said the results were a "critical milestone" and said the company would be applying for authorisation for emergency use in the US in February. The company will begin shipments immediately if approval is granted. The European Union already has agreed a deal to purchase 200 million doses for the bloc in 2021 with shipment deliveries beginning in April, depending on approval from the Europeans Medicines Agency.