Johnson & Johnson - The African Mirror

Mar

2021

Solar technologies can speed up vaccine rollout in Africa. Here’s how

THER'S hope that some industrialised countries will achieve near-universal vaccination against COVID-19 in the coming months. Yet the effort to vaccinate even the most essential workers in developing countries has only just begun. By current estimates, achieving herd immunity (to current strains) will require at least 75% of the world’s population to be vaccinated. Some developing countries haven’t reached that level of coverage even for common vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and polio. CYRUS SINAI, PhD student, Department of Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ROB FETTER, Senior Policy Associate, Energy Access Project, Duke University Many low-income countries will…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine compare to other coronavirus vaccines? 4 questions answered

COVID-19

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in adults. Maureen Ferran, a virologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology, explains how this third authorized vaccine works and explores the differences between it and the Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines that are already in use. MAUREEN FERRAN, Associate Professor of Biology, Rochester Institute of Technology 1. How does the Johnson & Johnson vaccine work? The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a viral vector vaccine. To create this vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus – the viral…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. authorizes J&J’s vaccine

COVID-19

JULIE STEENHUYSEN THE U.S. government has authorized Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, enabling millions more Americans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and setting the vaccine up for additional approvals around the world. The J&J vaccine is the third authorized in the United States, following ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, both of which require two doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the emergency use authorization of the J&J vaccine for adults aged 18 and older following Friday's unanimous endorsement by the agency's panel of outside experts. Shipments to vaccination sites are expected to begin Sunday or…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccines face hurdles if shots become annual affair

COVID-19

JOHN MILLER and LUDWIG BURGER VACCINES from AstraZeneca, Russia's Gamaleya Institute and Johnson & Johnson fight the coronavirus with another virus, leaving scientists concerned the shots may lose potency if annual inoculations become necessary to fight new variants. So-called viral vector shots - also used by several Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developers - use harmless modified viruses as vehicles, or vectors, to carry genetic information that helps the body build immunity against future infections. However, there is a risk that the body also develops immunity to the vector itself, recognising it as an intruder and trying to destroy it. Most vector-vaccine…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

2 people had severe allergic reactions after shot

COVID-19

A Johnson & Johnson scientist said yesterday that the company has received preliminary reports of two cases of severe allergic reactions, including one case of anaphylaxis, in people who had received the company's COVID-19 vaccine. Dr Macaya Douoguih, head of clinical development and medical affairs at J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the case of anaphylaxis was observed in an ongoing trial of healthcare workers in South Africa. There had not been any previously reported cases of anaphylaxis, Douoguih said. She was speaking to a panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which will vote later on…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Vaccines for “immediate use” in S.A.

COVID-19

SOUTH Africa's health minister said yesterday that government advisers had grouped COVID-19 vaccines into three groups and those considered for "immediate use" were the Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Pfizer and Moderna shots. The country started rolling out the J&J vaccine in a research study targeting healthcare workers last week and hopes to receive Pfizer doses in the coming months. It has paused AstraZeneca vaccinations because of a small trial showing the British company's shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus variant. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the government had placed "huge orders…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

‘I feel blessed’, says doctor

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF and ALEXANDER WINNING SOUTH Africa launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive yesterday, battling to tame a more infectious variant of the coronavirus with a roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson shot for the first time outside a major clinical trial. "I actually feel blessed, you know, after all our hard work and effort in the first and second wave that we finally have another layer of protection, another tool...in the fight against COVID-19," said emergency physician Sa'ad Lahri, one of the first South Africans to be vaccinated. "I am still Zoliswa, no side-effects," said nurse Zoliswa Gidi-Dyosi, who was…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

J&J’s vaccine study in S.A gets the nod

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa's drugs regulator has approved an implementation study of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way to start the country's first inoculations among frontline health workers. South Africa has yet to launch its COVID-19 vaccination programme and the government has decided to go with the J&J dose after trial results this month showed AstraZeneca's two-shot vaccine was less effective against the new variant of the coronavirus dominating South African infections. "SAHPRA has approved the implementation study," the regulator said in response to Reuters questions, adding it was still reviewing its separate application for full market use.…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa aims to immunise 500,000 health workers in J&J study, scientist says

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa aims to immunise between 350,000 and 500,000 health workers with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in an "implementation study" to further evaluate the shot, the president of the country's Medical Research Council said. Glenda Gray, co-lead investigator on the local leg of a J&J global trial, told Reuters South Africa expected to get batches of around 80,000 doses every seven to 14 days for the study, once it is approved. The implementation study would be aimed at further evaluating J&J's vaccine in the field and would be akin to a phase IIIb study, Gray said. J&J's…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya aims to vaccinate 16 million people by June 2022

COVID-19

DUNCAN MIRIRI KENYA is seeking an extra 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, on top of 24 million already ordered, and hopes to have 16 million people inoculated by June next year. Sourced from major pharmaceutical manufacturers like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, the extra doses will be acquired through the African Union's disease control and prevention body. The country will obtain supplies from manufacturers directly if needed, it said. The East African nation of more than 50 million people aims to vaccinate 1.25 million in phase one of the campaign by June this year, senior health ministry official Mercy…