Blaz tries to ease fear of J&J vaccine

In a bid to relieve possible concerns about the new vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, Mayor de Blasio said Tuesday he’d take the drug.

“I want to show people it’s the right choice,” he said at a press conference, noting the J&J vaccine takes one dose instead of two, as is the case with the drugs developed by Pfizer and Moderna.

The J&J drug recently received emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

With trials showing it’s about 70% effective, compared to rates around 90% for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, officials at the local and federal levels have been urging people not to be picky about which vaccine they get.

“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevents what matters — deaths and hospitalizations,” Dr. Ted Long, head of the city’s COVID tracing efforts, said at a briefing.

The city is expecting a supply of about 70,000 J&J vaccines in the coming days, according to Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi, with those doses to be prioritized for seniors.

The state will begin administering the J&J drug to eligible New Yorkers regardless of age at its sites at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the Javits Center in Midtown and the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse on Wednesday, according to Gov. Cuomo’s office. The state will get 164,800 doses total this week, the office added.

Meanwhile, city officials are keeping an eye on different strains of the virus.

“There is real reason for hope for better months ahead,” said Chokshi. “But on the periphery of this growing light, there is also a shadow — these new variants of the COVID virus that are being detected in New York City.”

Since last week, a variant known as “B.1.1.7 first found in the city has grown from 59 cases to 116, according to Chokshi. He also reported for the first time that the city has had two known cases of the “B.1.351 variant that first surfaced in South Africa.

“There is a lot that we’re still learning,” said Chokshi. “Some of the variants seem to spread more easily and some may be more likely to cause more illness.”

He compared the emergence of variants during the pandemic to a boxing match in which a contestant changes plans midway through the fight.

“Just as viruses evolve, so must our defenses,” Chokshi said.