March 1st – February 28th, local time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially approved the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
The CDC warned about the recent relaxation of pandemic prevention restrictions in many parts of the United States. Meanwhile, the UK has confirmed the first case of Variant virus found in Brazil.
CDC officially approves the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
On the 28th local time, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice unanimously recommended the emergency use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine by 12 votes to 0.
Soon after, CDC director Rochelle Valensky accepted the committee’s recommendation to allow Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be put into use, which means that Johnson & Johnson can start shipping to all parts of the country.
The Commission recommends that Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine be used in the United States over 18 years old.
Valensky called the decision “another milestone” to help end the pandemic.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially approved Johnson & Johnson’s emergency use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine on February 27, making Johnson & Johnson the third coronavirus vaccine approved in the United States.
The cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States currently exceeds 28.6 million. Last week, the number of people in the United States died from the novel coronavirus exceeded 500,000, but the number of deaths in nursing homes fell sharply, and the overall number of cases and deaths also fell.
However, the CDC still warns that the downward trend of new cases may have stalled due to the spread of the more infectious Variant novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, governors in many places are lifting restrictions, including mask regulations, despite indications that Variant viruses will lead to a new outbreak.
According to the report, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine will not have an immediate impact on pandemic control.
It can only provide about 4 million doses immediately, and it is expected to gradually increase shipments in the next few weeks.
CDC said that as of the morning of February 28 local time, 75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been vaccinated in the United States and more than 96 million doses had been distributed to all parts of the country.
The United Kingdom confirmed the first case of Variant virus found in Brazil.
British health authorities said on February 28 that the country had found the first reported case of P.1 mutation COVID-19 in Brazil.
According to the report, three cases were found in England and three in Scotland.
Two of the confirmed cases in England came from the same family, one of whom had a history of traveling in Brazil.
All three confirmed cases in Scotland have a history of travel in Brazil, but there is no link to the confirmed cases in England.
The UK Public Health Department noted that officials investigating these cases were rapidly picking up tests and speeding up the ordering of local COVID-19 positive samples as a precautionary measure.
