ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced on Sunday that it expects to receive about 50,000 doses of the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson in the coming week.
The vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA on Saturday and was recommended by the CDC for use in adults on Sunday.
“We are incredibly appreciative to be receiving additional vaccines in Missouri, and we remain committed to making it available for a variety of vaccinators to get it into arms as efficiently as possible,” Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a press release Sunday. “The order issued today will authorize approved vaccinators to vaccinate using the Janssen vaccine as soon as they receive it from our federal partners.”
The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death. One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness, in a massive study that spanned three continents — protection that remained strong even in countries such as South Africa, where the variants of most concern are spreading.
“This is really good news,” Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told The Associated Press Saturday. “The most important thing we can do right now is to get as many shots in as many arms as we can.”
Shipments of a few million doses to be divided among states could begin as early as Monday. By the end of March, J&J has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses to the U.S., and 100 million by summer.
As of Sunday, 1,279,007 vaccine doses had been administered in Missouri, up 37,968 from the previous day. According to the state's dashboard, 13.7% have received at least one dose and 7.1% of people have received two doses.
