VA Of New Jersey Receives Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Shipment

NEW JERSEY — The VA New Jersey Health Care System received its initial shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Some patients will receive them Saturday.

Saturday's vaccination appointments have already been scheduled for the Department of Veterans Affairs in New Jersey. The VA has provided about 12,700 Moderna vaccine doses to veterans and employees in New Jersey as of Friday. That includes 3,600 people who have received their second shot.

“VANJHCS is eager to be able to offer a second highly effective vaccine to more Veterans,” said public affairs officer Christine Betros Farrell. “This one-dose vaccine will help us reach our ultimate goal of offering COVID-19 vaccination to all Veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated.”

Veterans can get the latest information and sign up to receive updates on the VA’s COVID-19 vaccine webpage.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization

Saturday for the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, which only
require one shot per patient. The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson developed the vaccine.

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Gov. Phil Murphy anticipated the state would receive 73,600 of the Janssen vaccines this week. Although the company is ramping up production, it's not yet clear how much and how quickly availability will increase.

A Phase 3 study showed the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe COVID-19 disease beginning 28 days after vaccination, according to Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have shown 95 percent efficacy in that regard but each require two doses per person.