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A medical worker at South Shore University Hospital gets ready to administer the newly available Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Bay Shore, N.Y., Wednesday. Clinical research found it to be 85% effective in preventing severe disease four weeks after vaccination, and it has demonstrated promising indications of protection against a couple of concerning variants of the coronavirus.
This week, health care providers began administering the first doses of Johnson & Johnson s COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. the third vaccine authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to help stop the coronavirus pandemic.
That s welcome news in a country that still faces high levels of circulating virus in most regions, and a demand for vaccine that still far outstrips supply.
Richard Nettles, MD, the vice president of medical affairs for the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen, talks about the one-shot vaccine and plans to expand its use.
The third COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in the U.S. requires one shot instead of two, and works a slightly different way from the others. Here s what we know about its safety and effectiveness.
Photos Courtesy of Natalie Hayden
It’s a decision women probably thought they’d never have to make: to get a newly developed vaccine while pregnant with a chronic illness in the middle of a pandemic, or not. As a mom of two toddlers living with Crohn’s disease, with baby No. 3 due in July, the decision is weighing heavily on me. And I find that the decision is reminiscent of life with an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Whether it’s starting a new medication or going through a procedure, I’ve been weighing the risk and benefits of my health choices since being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2005.