On February 27, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Janssen’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. This vaccine, which falls under the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, is the third to be approved by the FDA and cleared to be used across the United States.
Devastatingly, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Map, over 28.7 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, leading to an unfortunate toll of over 515,600 deaths.
Thankfully, the first two FDA approved vaccines started rolling out earlier this year. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which started being administered earlier this year, have provided hope in diminishing the rising COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
The FDA’s Acting Commissioner, Janet Woodcock, M.D. stated that “the authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for COVID-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic” during last week’s press announcement.
To date, according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, over 78.6 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered to Americans across the country. Over 51.7 million have received one or more doses and 26.1 million have received two doses and are now considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These numbers represent about 15.6% of the population receiving one or more doses and 7.9% receiving two doses.
The rollout of the third approved coronavirus vaccine will only help in fast tracking vaccinations and protecting the population from the novel virus.