JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New COVID-19 vaccines are in the works and Johnson and Johnson completed another phase of the trial.
“The big news there is that the Johnson and Johnson shot is just one and you don’t have to get a second dose," said director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville, Chad Neilsen.
Neilsen says one dose will be more convenient for the people distributing the vaccine.
“You don’t have to call people back to come get a second shot. They can get on and they're done and that’s a big deal with logistics on handling the vaccine," said Neilsen.
The assistant chief medical officer at UF Health Jacksonville, Chirag Patel, says Johnson & Johnson studied both one and two doses. They found that they were able to achieve an antibody production at the desired level with one dose.
In the Johnson and Johnson completed phase two trial, it showed that several months after people got the shot, they saw a good immune response.
“That means it set the stage for them to do a phase three trial which means tens of thousands of people will be involved and that’s one step closer that they’ll get to coming to the market," said Neilsen.
But there are still ways to go.
Patel says the estimated time the Johnson and Johnson’s Emergency Use Authorization could roll out would be sometime in the spring this year.
“I would implore everybody out there in the public not to try to wait and pick and choose and decide when they’re going to get it, if someone makes the vaccine available to you I encourage you to get whichever vaccine it is that is available," said Patel.