COVID-19 Vaccine Latest News Update: Anti-Coronavirus Drug by Johnson & Johnson Produces Strong Immune Response In Early Trial
New Delhi, September 26: An experimental vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19), developed by global healthcare company Johnson & Johnson, has shown positive results in early trials. According to interim results of an early-to-mid stage clinical trial published on Friday, Johnson & Johnson's potential COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response against the novel coronavirus. The vaccine is the fourth in the United States to enter the final phase of clinical trials. China Targets to Produce 1 Billion COVID-19 Vaccine Doses a Year.
The potential COVID-19 vaccine candidate by Johnson & Johnson, called Ad26.COV2.S, was administrated to nearly 1000 healthy adults in the US. "The safety profile and immunogenicity after only a single dose are supportive for further clinical development of [vaccine] Ad26.COV2.S at a dose level of 5x1010 vp, as a potentially protective vaccine against COVID-19," the report said on Friday. "A single dose of Ad26.COV2.S elicited strong humoral responses in the vast majority of vaccine recipients." Australian PM Scott Morrison Urges International Community to Share COVID-19 Vaccine, Calls It 'Global and Moral Responsibility'.
For now, the results justify why more studies are needed in larger numbers to look for serious adverse effects, Dr Barry Bloom, a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the Johnson & Johnson trial, said. Based on the interim results, the company has started phase-3 trials of the vaccine. The trial involving 60,000 participants is likely to end by the end of the year or early next year.
Also Read | India's COVID-19 Count Crosses 59 Lakh, Over 85,000 New Coronavirus Cases Reported in Past 24 Hours
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases worldwide has topped 32.4 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 987,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday morning, the total number of cases stood at 32,471,119 and the fatalities rose to 987,593, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 7,032,524 and 203,657, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in the second place in terms of cases at 59,03,933, while the country's death toll soared to 93,379.
