The UK’s decision to lengthen the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been criticised by some. But what if we had a vaccine which only needed one dose, and had been tested on that basis? A vaccination programme could progress far more quickly and without the complication of having to ask people to come back to a clinic a second time. In particular, it would simplify the distribution of vaccines in countries with less-well developed public health systems.
That is the promise of the latest vaccine candidate for which results have been reported: the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is based on an existing Ebola jab. However the results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, cover only phases one and two of the trial — which measure the response of the immune system to the vaccine and other safety aspects.
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