Things are moving along nicely in the experimental vaccine department at Johnson & Johnson. The company has begun the final stage of clinical trials for its coronavirus contender. With 60,000 participants, it's the largest trial in the U.S. by far. The researchers say they should know by the end of the year whether they have a safe vaccine.
The vaccine candidate uses an adenovirus to carry a gene from the coronavirus into human cells. Then, it produces coronavirus proteins that can potentially prime the immune system to fight off a later infection by the virus, as the New York Times explains.
The president and his administration shared the "big news."
Big news. Numerous great companies are seeing fantastic results. @FDA must move quickly! https://t.co/2pDrmRPOxc
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2020
Johnson & Johnson Begins Final-Stage Testing of single shot Covid-19 Vaccine.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) September 23, 2020
This is the 4th Phase III trial for a Covid vaccine in the US! #OperationWarpSpeed https://t.co/sl8KkeJY1T
Johnson & Johnson's candidate has a few factors on its side. The vaccine contender does not need to be stored in subzero temperatures like the other two candidates offered by Moderna and Pfizer, and it may require just one dose instead of two.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has explained that, under Operation Warp Speed, they have about six or seven vaccine candidates in development. He too is "cautiously optimistic" that we'll have a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020. Last week, Trump suggested that every American should expect to have access to a vaccine by April.
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Wednesday's news from Johnson & Johnson should be welcome news for everyone. But, as Mark Levin recently noted, Trump critics have managed to even "denigrate" the impressive work of Operation Warp Speed. The president said it's because they think he'll get the "credit" for it.
President @realDonaldTrump on #OperationWarpSpeed:
— GOP (@GOP) September 21, 2020
“They have done it in record time. If this were a typical administration, this vaccine wouldn't be ready for two or three years because of the FDA process.” pic.twitter.com/ziCjdPDora
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