TOLEDO, Ohio — As Pfizer and Moderna shots continue to be distributed across the country, other companies are on the cusp of getting approval for a vaccine, with all eyes currently on Johnson & Johnson.
The Johnson & Johnson shot would be the first single-dose vaccine for COVID-19.
"It looks like it's a little less effective at preventing disease altogether than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but it actually looks like it's extremely effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths," ProMedica's Dr. Brian Kaminski said.
Right now, there is a shortage of vaccine doses across the country, and until production ramps up, health leaders say distribution will continue moving at the pace it is right now. Ohio is still slowly moving through Phase 1B of vaccinations.
"Many providers are only getting 100, 200 doses," Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said, at a press conference on Tuesday.
However, if the Johnson & Johnson vaccine gets approved, distribution could speed up.
"It is one more vaccine that we can add to the other two that are out there, so we, at least in these initial phases, wouldn't look at it as a replacement for those other two. We'd look at it as an addition to those other two," Kaminski said.
If everything goes as planned, as it did with Pfizer and Moderna's approvals, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be available as early as the end of February.
Kaminski said Johnson & Johnson has already started producing and putting vaccines into vials, in anticipation of it being approved in a few weeks.