COVID-19 Vaccine News for the Week of February 26

Thanks to those who were able to join us for our webinars this week addressing the latest COVID-19 news and legal issues. Miller Johnson has been tracking the latest vaccine updates and will continue to keep clients informed of the latest news and developments.

Latest Vaccine News

The biggest news of the week is the FDA’s review of Johnson & Johnson’s Emergency Use Application (“EUA”).  The briefing document published by the FDA showed the vaccine was more than 85% effective at preventing serious illness and was 66% effective at preventing moderate cases. Notably, there no deaths or hospital admissions of any study participants who received the vaccine. The FDA is expected to vote on the EUA today. If approved, Johnson & Johnson says it plans to deliver 20 million doses in total by the end of March and 100 million doses by the end of June.  While the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less effective than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, it requires only one dose and can be stored in regular refrigerators.

Latest Distribution and Administration Numbers

Vaccine distribution began in the US on December 14, 2020, and according to the CDC, more than As of today, 68.2 million doses have been administered which is an increase of over 10 million from last week.  In the last week, an average of 1.3 million doses per day were administered which is consistent with last week despite the severe weather seen in manty parts of the country.

Here in Michigan, just over 2.6 million doses have been distributed which is an increase of 300,000 from last week and closer to the number of doses needed to meet Michigan’s goal of 50,000 vaccinations per week. Vaccine distribution continued to shift towards providing vaccines to local health departments over hospitals. Michigan has administered more than 2.05 million doses of the vaccine which is an increase of about 300,000 from last week. The pace of vaccine administration has remained relatively constant in the last month and remains below the goal of 50,000 vaccinations per week.

Michigan is still in Phase 1A & 1B of vaccine distribution.  This means healthcare workers, people 65 years of age or older, certain frontline workers such as teachers, first responders, correction workers and certain childcare providers are eligible to receive the vaccine. Eligible individuals can register through their local hospital, public health department or eligible pharmacies such as Meijer.