An analysis by the Food and Drug Administration finds Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective; emergency authorization use of the drug could be given as early as Saturday.
The vaccine reportedly is 72% effective in the U.S. overall, 85% effective against severe disease and completely prevents hospitalizations and death.
Johnson & Johnson says it intends to distribute the vaccine immediately once it gets the green light, meaning a third option could be just days from entering the vaccine pipeline in a nation desperate for more doses. In New Jersey, just over 6% of the state’s population has received both doses of currently available (two-dose) vaccines.
WATCH: Slower J&J COVID-19 vaccine production could hit vaccination efforts
