Johnson & Johnson CEO says annual vaccine doses needed for several years

New York, February 11 (RHC)-- Johnson & Johnson CEO  Alex Gorsky said that people may need COVID-19 vaccines annually for the next several years.  The vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is about 66 percent effective but it does not have to be stored in a freezing temperature.

“Every time it mutates, it’s almost like another click of the dial, so to speak, where we can see another variant, another mutation that can have an impact on its ability, for example, to fend off antibodies or to have a different kind of response not only to a therapeutic but also to a vaccine,” Gorsky said.  

“I think most people feel that this will be something, where, likely for the next several years, we’ll be getting a COVID-19 shot, just like we would a flu shot. Exactly what that shot is going to be comprised of, I don’t think we know, today.  But, I think we can all imagine a future where we’re living with this, but we can keep the science at pace with the virus so we can keep on living our lives.”

Meanwhile, a new poll showed that about 1 in 3 Americans will definitely or probably won’t get any vaccine for the coronavirus.  While 67 percent of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15 percent are certain they will not and 17 percent say probably not, according to the poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“Substantial skepticism persists more than a month and a half into a US vaccination drive that has encountered few if any serious side effects,” the AP said in its report. “Resistance runs higher among younger people, people without college degrees, Black Americans and Republicans.”

Over half Americans say they would either refuse or delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine, a new survey shows after a similar report about vaccine refusal in US military.  Nearly 33 million Americans have already been vaccinated once as the pandemic keeps claiming more lives in the United States.

“You’re going to need to get quite large proportions of the population vaccinated before you see a real effect,” said William Hanage, a Harvard University expert on disease dynamics.  Over 468 thousand people have so far died due to coronavirus infection with the cases reaching more than 27 million.