New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine ships out

The COVID-19 vaccine from New Brunswick based Johnson & Johnson, the third vaccine approved to fight the coronavirus in the United States, shipped out Sunday night.

News 12 Staff

Mar 1, 2021, 4:52 PM

Updated 1,340 days ago

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The COVID-19 vaccine from New Brunswick based Johnson & Johnson, the third vaccine approved to fight the coronavirus in the United States, shipped out Sunday night.
The White House says shots from Johnson & Johnson should be arriving Tuesday.
Approximately 4 million doses, the entire stockpile of the newly approved vaccine, is being shipped out.
New Jersey is expected to get about 70,000 doses for now, meaning 70,000 more vaccinated New Jersey residents. The vaccine is expected to help hard-to-reach places that include the state's homeless population and emergency room situations.
Johnson & Johnson says it could have about 20 million vaccines ready by the end of March and 100 million by the end of June.
Experts from across the country say this will have a meaningful impact.
"This is going to increase immediately, somewhere between 70-to-80 percent our ability to deliver new shots to people every week. It's a big, big deal," Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine, at the George Washington University Medical Center.
"For the most severe and critical disease, hospitalizations and deaths, the performance was just as good. This is an outstanding vaccine," says Dr. Esther Choo, professor of Emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says almost 8% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, but it's still nowhere near herd immunity which experts say maybe 60 to 80% need to be vaccinated. Still, it should be a very busy week with the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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