This photo provided by Johnson & Johnson shows a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the company. (PHOTO: Cheryl Gerber/Courtesy of Johnson & Johnson via AP, File)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — State leaders say around 23,000 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses are already in Utah and being administered.
According to local health officials, the third effective vaccine to arrive in the state has increased benefits compared to the Pfizer and Moderna versions.
“The great thing about it is, of course, the one dose,” said Dr. Tamara Sheffield with Intermountain Healthcare. “It’s refrigerator stable, so we’re going to be able to get this out to people in locations that we haven’t been able to with the other vaccines.”
Additionally, the vaccines effectiveness has been lauded at both the local and national level.
“Eighty-five percent of people are protected at week four against severe disease,” Sheffield said. “By week seven, so seven weeks out, they’re seeing nobody with this Johnson & Johnson vaccine having severe disease.”
The similarities between all three vaccines are the reported side effects, although Johnson & Johnson may again prove to be the least worrisome since it’s only one dose.
“Some people get a little bit of a fever, headache, aches and chills,” she said. “But it’s really [a] fairly low rate.”
As of Thursday, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is already available at a handful of locations across the state.
Intermountain Healthcare is reporting limited doses of the new vaccine at clinics in Logan, Ogden, Murray, Riverton, Park City, Provo and St. George.
Nomi Health is also holding a clinic at the Megaplex Centerville where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available. Officials with University of Utah Health have indicated that they will begin administering the new vaccine by March 8.
More than 900,000 total COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to Utah and nearly 800,000 have been administered.