FDA authorizes use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
THE U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency use authorization Saturday for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency said it determined the Janssen vaccine, third to be approved, met statutory criteria and its known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks.
“The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for COVID-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.
The vaccine is administered as a single dose.
“With today’s authorization, we are adding another vaccine in our medical toolbox to fight this virus,” said Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
President Joe Biden called the approval “exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development in our efforts to bring an end to the crisis.”
“We know that the more people get vaccinated, the faster we will overcome the virus, get back to our friends and loved ones, and get our economy back on track,” the US president said in a statement.
The other two vaccines administered in the US – one from Pfizer-BioNTech and another from Moderna – require two separate shots spaced weeks apart.
As of late Saturday, nearly 73 million doses have been administered across the country, as states in critical condition like New York pleaded for more vaccines.
LUKA Doncic scored 27 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 11598 NBA victory in Brooklyn Saturday, snapping the short-handed Nets’ eightgame winning streak.
James Harden scored 29 points for the Nets but ran out of steam late as he carried the load in the absence of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Durant missed his seventh game with a strained left hamstring while Irving sat out to rest his surgically repaired right shoulder.
Harden had just four points in the second half, sitting out most of the fourth quarter in which Dallas led by as many as 22. The Mavs were buoyed by the return of Kristaps Porzingis, who scored 18 points in his first contest since missing three games with back trouble.
Brooklyn remained half a game behind Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia, who fell 112-109 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime in a rare home defeat.
Guard Collin Sexton scored 28 points and Darius Garland added 25 with nine assists for the Cavaliers, who came into the contest missing half a dozen players due to injury or personal reasons.
Despite having just nine players in uniform, Cleveland led 28-23 after the first quarter and 56-47 at halftime.
An 18-9 third-quarter run saw the Sixers pull level at 65-65 and the lead changed hands eight times in the fourth.
Joel Embiid’s dunk with 1:38 left in regulation knotted the score at 92-92, but he missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer.
The Cavs scored the first five points of overtime and never trailed, claiming the win despite a 42-point, 16-rebound performance from Embiid.
JAZZ BACK IN TUNE
The league-leading Utah Jazz wasted no time in bouncing back from a disorganized defeat to the Miami Heat, cruising past the Magic 124-109 in Orlando.
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 of his 31 points in the second half as the Jazz improved to 27-7.
Joe Ingles, starting at point guard in place of Mike Conley, scored 17 points and handed out seven assists and Rudy Gobert chipped in 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Jazz, who had 18 points off the bench from Jordan Clarkson.
In Washington, Bradley Beal scored 34 points to propel the Wizards to a 128-112 victory over Minnesota Timberwolves.