1.6K Johnson & Johnson Vaccines Being Sent To Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County will receive about 1,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, officials announced Wednesday.

The shipment — which is about 3.2 percent of the state's allotment — adds a third option for inoculation and brings the region one step closer to normalcy. The one-shot vaccine received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last weekend.

"The approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine moves us closer to a light at the end of the tunnel," County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said. "I think people can begin to see that the vaccines and the doses are coming online."

As of Wednesday, Maryland has administered 1,394,725 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Among those, 900,458 were first doses and 494,267 were second doses.

In Montgomery County, 161,337 residents (15.3 percent) have received their first dose. A total of 79,902 residents (7.6 percent) have already gotten their second and final shot.

Elrich said he does not know what future J&J allotments will look like or exactly when they will be shipped to the county.

"We're not sure whether that (initial allotment amount) will be repeated next week or the week after that. But we do know that as soon as their productions ramp up, we'll be seeing more of the Johnson & Johnson doses," Elrich said.

There are three vaccines currently available in the United States. Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two shots, while J&J's only needs one.

Clinical trials did show the J&J vaccine as being less effective against the virus compared with the vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer. The company said the vaccine has a 72 percent efficacy rate among trial participants in the U.S., but is about 85 percent effective against the most severe forms of the virus. Moderna and Pfizer tout efficacy rates at or near 95 percent.

Based on the findings, some people worry they're being offered a second-rate vaccine. But health officials beg to differ.

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county's top health official, said the J&J shot is 100 percent effective against hospitalizations and deaths and does what it needs to keep people safe.

"A month after receiving the single dose of the vaccine, the data shows there were no hospitalizations related to COVID. That's important to note because it suggests that protection against the virus comes at a quicker time period ... in comparison to the two-dose regimen," he said. "Again, it is effective at preventing severe illness secondary to COVID-19, if one gets it, and very good at preventing fatalities and COVID-related hospitalizations. And that's ultimately the goal of the vaccine — to keep people safe."

While none of the vaccines are 100 percent effective against COVID-19, they all meet the 50 percent efficacy threshold established by the FDA.

Like Gayles, health officials across the country say it shouldn't matter which vaccine you take.

"The best vaccine is the one that you can get, as soon as you can," Dr. Ben Singer, who treats coronavirus patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, told Patch.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said he would take the vaccine himself if that were the one offered to him.

"If I would go to a place where they had J&J, I would have no hesitancy whatsoever to take it," Fauci said while on NBC News' "Meet The Press" this past weekend.

The differences between the vaccines are mainly for those administering, Singer said.

"As long as the vaccinating facility is able to keep track of all that, from an individual's standpoint I think it should be pretty straightforward, and they shouldn't have to be overly concerned with getting one versus the other, just following the directions," he said.

SEE ALSO: How To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In Maryland