CHICAGO: Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday began a 60,000-person trial of an experimental single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that, if proven effective, could simplify distribution of millions of doses compared with leading rivals requiring two doses.
The company expects results of the Phase III trial by year end or early next year, Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer, said in a joint news conference with officials from the National Institutes of Health and the Trump administration.
J&J plans to manufacture as many as 1 billion doses in 2021, and more after that, Stoffels said.
Rival vaccines from Moderna Inc , Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca all require two shots separated by several weeks, which make them more difficult to administer and means twice as much vaccine is needed to inoculate the same number of…