Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine effective, but less than some others
Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19 with just one shot – not as strong as some two-shot rivals but still potentially helpful for a world in dire need of more doses.
J&J said Friday that in the U.S. and seven other countries, the single-shot vaccine was 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe illness, and much more protective — 85% — against the most serious symptoms.
There was some geographic variation. The vaccine worked better in the U.S. — 72% effective against moderate to severe COVID-19 – compared to 57% in South Africa, where it was up against an easier-to-spread mutated virus.
Here’s an update on all developments. Scroll or swipe further for in-depth coverage.
- The new director of the Centers for Disease Control says officials have “scaled up” their surveillance of new coronavirus variants in the United States.
- Democrats in Congress and the White House have rejected a Republican pitch to split President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue plan into smaller chunks, with lawmakers appearing primed to muscle the sweeping economic and virus aid forward without GOP help.
- A World Health Organization team visited a hospital on Friday where China says the first COVID-19 patients were treated more than a year ago as part of the experts’ long-awaited fact-finding mission on the origins of the coronavirus.
- Germany’s health minister said he expects the European Union’s drug regulator to authorize a coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday, but it may not be recommended for older adults because of insufficient data.
- In keeping with a previous estimate that revenues could be down by at least $100 million for each of the 32 NFL teams, an NFL consultant says the league missed out on $3 billion to $4 billion while playing in the pandemic. But Giants owner John Mara says the losses are manageable.
For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for the latest virus numbers.
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