What you should know about the Johnson & Johnson shot

Residents of Lauderdale County are beginning to see an additional shot of hope as the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes its debut in the area. The Lauderdale County Health Department began administrated the new shot on yesterday.

24,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was made available to the Mississippi State Department of Health , but what makes it different from the Pfizer and Moderna shot?

“The difference in this vaccine is it doesn’t require any special cold temperatures,” said Anderson Chief Medical Officer Dr. Keith Everett. “It can be stored in normal refrigeration and the other significant thing is it only requires one shot.”

Over 400,000 Mississippians have received the COVID-19 vaccine, with over 200,000 having received both shots. According to officials, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do cause side effects after the second dose, but the protection rate is a bit lower for the Johnson & Johnson shot.

“Studies show after officially receiving the J&J vaccine, that it has a little bit lower percent of protection--somewhere in the 70 to 75 percent protection, but it seems that recent information coming out shows that over time that the protection rate gets up to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine rates," said Dr. Everett.

Studies also say no trial participants of the new vaccine entered the hospital or died for the Johnson & Johnson shot. Visit here to learn more.