Newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine shipped to Hawaii

Government
Hawaii covid vaccine
The shipment of vaccines comes at a welcome time for Hawaii, with the state struggling mightily from the fallout caused by the pandemic. | Shutterstock

This month, Hawaii is expecting nearly 70,000 total vaccines to arrive in the state to help vaccinate the population from the deadly coronavirus. 

Almost 12,000 of these vaccines will be from the newly approved stock of Johnson & Johnson, Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was pending approval for several months, but has recently gained approval and is now rapidly ramping up production. 

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green stated in an interview that the state would be receiving over 55,000 doses of the vaccine from the Pfizer and Moderna stock, with the remaining vaccines that are received being from the single-dose Johnson & Johnson injection. 

The Johnson & Johnson rendition of the vaccine was approved for emergency use by the USDA after a lengthy approvals process, which saw competitors Moderna and Pfizer gain approval months earlier. 

The FDA has been vocal about its praise for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which they say offers strong protection against serious cases of the coronavirus, illness and hospitalizations as a result of the coronavirus. In a study that took place across three continents, the dose was 85% effective in protecting against severe COVID-19 illness. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has shown to be resilient even in the face of variants and mutations. 

Meanwhile, the double-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown to be 95% effective in preventing severe coronavirus illness. 

“Emergency use authorization of the (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine will affect the state’s vaccination priorities in that it will provide us more vaccines, allowing us to provide vaccinations to additional populations sooner," DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr said.

The vaccines come in a dire time of need for Hawaii, which has been one of the states most impacted by the coronavirus and the loss of revenue that resulted.