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ADPH: Alabama is expected to receive about 40,000 doses of the J&J vaccine

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers 72% effectiveness with just a single-dose.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine which doctor's say, is a big game changer, will soon be delivered to Alabama.

Work is underway to get the doses into the arms of thousands of people. Our WZDX News reporter has more details on what to expect in the coming days.

"Being a single-dose will be helpful because it will decrease the amount of manpower that is required to give two-dose vaccines," says Alabama Department of Public Health Assistant State Health Officer, Dr. Karen Landers.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers 72% effectiveness with just a single-dose. Alabama is expected to receive just more than 40,000 doses to be administered to people in phases 1a and1b.

"We haven't changed our phases yet, given this relatively small amount of vaccine, but we're still very happy to have these additional doses in the state of Alabama for persons to be vaccinated," says Landers.

The Alabama Department of Public Health says those doses will go to vaccine providers who haven't received any vaccine yet. So far, about one thousand vaccine providers have been approved in the state.

"The most reasonable way to utilize this is likely to have additional providers to receive the vaccine. Providers that have not had vaccine before," says Landers.

Public health officials say although more people are vaccinated, t's important to continue following CDC guidelines as we now face variants of the virus.

So far at least 35 people are reported to have been infected with the U.K. variant in Alabama.

The CDC recently published recommendations for wearing layered masks to slow the spread. "They were really focusing on multiple ways to improve the quality of the mask, as well as ensuring the consistency of wearing the mask," says Landers.

The Alabama Department of Public Health says they will receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, as of now officials are still waiting to know exactly when. 

For the most up-to-date COVID vaccine information, check out this WZDX story: Alabama COVID vaccine updates

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