Janssen Vaccine Trails Pfizer and Moderna in the US... Accounts for 4% of Total Vaccinations

According to a report by the NYT on the 18th (local time), the Janssen vaccine from Johnson & Johnson's U.S. subsidiary has been administered 11.8 million times in the United States so far, accounting for less than 4% of the total vaccine doses administered.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] An analysis has emerged that the Janssen vaccine from the U.S. Johnson & Johnson group, which had high expectations as a single-dose vaccine, has not gained much traction in the United States.

According to an NYT report on the 18th (local time), only 11.8 million doses of the Janssen vaccine have been administered in the U.S., accounting for less than 4% of all vaccinations. Instead of the Janssen vaccine, vaccines jointly developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, as well as the vaccine from the U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna, are mainly being chosen.

This is the exact opposite of the situation earlier this year when expectations for the Janssen vaccine were high. When the Janssen vaccine received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last February, it was popular in universities and communities. There was also a prospect that it could be a breakthrough for vulnerable groups in the U.S. While Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, the Janssen vaccine is administered in a single dose, and unlike the Pfizer vaccine, it does not require ultra-cold storage facilities.

The NYT pointed out that the current situation reflects the Janssen vaccine’s failure to win over Americans due to blood clot controversies and production accidents. Additionally, the fact that the Janssen vaccine received approval later than other vaccines also worked against it.

U.S. health authorities recommended halting the Janssen vaccine on April 13 after reviewing cases of 'rare and severe' blood clots in vaccine recipients. Although vaccination resumed 10 days later, with authorities stating that the benefits outweighed the risks, public anxiety did not subside. Since the U.S. health authorities recommended resuming vaccinations on April 23, only 3.5 million doses of the Janssen vaccine have been administered in the U.S.

Moreover, the U.S. FDA decided this month to discard Janssen vaccines produced at the Baltimore plant in Maryland, where a manufacturing accident occurred. The NYT reported that the amount of vaccine to be discarded reaches 60 million doses.

Meanwhile, some parts of the U.S. are still administering the Janssen vaccine. In Arkansas, where only one-third of the population is fully vaccinated, public officials are providing the Janssen vaccine to workers in agriculture, manufacturing, and wastewater sectors. Additionally, hospitals in the New Orleans area of Louisiana have started vaccinating patients leaving emergency rooms with the Janssen vaccine, according to the NYT.

A senior health official in Louisiana said, "The Janssen vaccine will not change the game, but I do not think the vaccination with the Janssen vaccine is over."