During an Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) conference Deputy Health Commissioner Keith Reed said the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is waiting on Federal Drug Administration approval.
“This is a big deal. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine adds to our options distribution – wise and storage – wise. It’s a much simpler vaccine, it’s a one dose vaccine and it doesn’t have to be stored in ultra-cold temperatures,” Reed said.
Reed also said although the vaccine efficacy is lower, it’s highly effective against hospitalizations and severe cases of COVID-19.
“We need to be careful when thinking about efficacy of the vaccine. There are a lot of things to take into consideration. The Johnson and Johnson is about 85 percent effective for prevention of COVID-19 which is lower than both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is very effective against hospitalizations and deaths. It’s not always about preventing the disease sometimes it’s about mitigating the impact of the disease,” Reed said.
Reed also said Oklahoma could receive up to 30,000 Johnson and Johnson vaccine doses later next week.
OSDH is reporting 89 active COVID-19 cases for Custer County.
There is one additional death listed in Clinton, which leaves the county at 67 COVID-19-related deaths.
Washita County has 32 active COVID-19 cases and eight total deaths.
In Custer County, Clinton has 53 active cases. Weatherford has 31 active cases. Arapaho has no active cases, Butler has two active cases, Custer City has no active cases and Thomas has one active case.
In Washita County, Bessie has one active case and Burns Flat has five active cases. Colony has no active cases, Cordell has nine active cases and Corn has one active case. Dill City has two active cases, Foss has two active cases, Rocky has one active case and Sentinel has four active cases.
Hydro, which sits in Caddo County, has five active cases.
The State of Oklahoma has 13,544 active cases of COVID-19 and 4,302 total deaths.
Additionally, 477,397 prime doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, and 204,069 vaccine series have been administered.
For more information, visit www. oklahoma.gov/covid19.html.