CBC News: The National shows that Health Canada certainly has approved a 4th COVID-19 vaccine: the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The prime minister also announced that Canada will get 3.5 million more Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines by the end of May.
It is interesting how the Johnson & Johnson vaccine effectively works. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s called a "viral vector vaccine."
To create this useful vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson team took a harmless adenovirus (the viral vector) and replaced a small piece of its genetic instructions with coronavirus Covid-19 genes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
After this modified adenovirus is injected into someone’s arm, it enters the person’s cells. The cells then read the genetic instructions needed to make the spike protein and the vaccinated cells make and present the spike protein on their own surface. The person’s strong immune system then notices these foreign proteins and makes antibodies against them that will protect the person if they are ever exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in the future.
The adenovirus vector vaccine is "safe" because the adenovirus can’t replicate in human cells or cause disease. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can’t cause COVID-19 without the rest of the coronavirus.
Johnson & Johnson used a similar method to make its Ebola vaccine. The AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is also an adenovirus viral vector vaccine.
The first human case of an Ebola outbreak was acquired through contact with blood, secretions organs or other bodily fluids of an infected animal. EVD has been documented in people who handled infected chimpanzees, gorillas, and forest antelopes, both dead and alive, in Cote d'Ivoire, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is ranked No. 37 on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Johnson & Johnson is one of the world's most valuable companies, and is 1 of only 2 USA-based companies that has a prime credit rating of AAA. That is higher than that of the United States government.
Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the consumer division being located in Skillman, New Jersey. The corporation includes some 250 subsidiary companies with operations in 60 countries and products sold in over 175 countries. Johnson & Johnson had worldwide sales of $70.1 billion during calendar year 2015. Johnson & Johnson's brands include numerous household names of medications and first aid supplies. Among its well-known consumer products are the Band-Aid Brand line of bandages, Tylenol medications, Johnson's Baby products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products, Clean & Clear facial wash and Acuvue contact lenses. Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical arm is Janssen Pharmaceutica.
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