PHILADELPHIA, PA, March 2, 2021--The American College of Physicians (ACP) supports the interim recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Janssen, in persons 18 and older in the U.S. under the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization. ACP previously announced its support for the interim ACIP recommendations for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDAon February 27, 2021. Its vaccine is a single-dose, intramuscular injection and can stored at normal refrigerated temperatures.
ACP continues to strongly encourage physicians, other health care professionals and patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Many physicians and other health care personnel receivedCOVID-19 vaccines as part of the initial vaccine allocation, which enabled them to fulfill their ethical responsibility to limit risk to patients by taking appropriate infection control precautions. ACP also continues to call for the ongoing evaluation of vaccine effectiveness as well as safety monitoring.
ACP also urges everyone to continue use of other preventive measures to reduce virus transmission, including wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, frequent hand hygiene with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes using a bent elbow or paper tissue, and following other preventive hygiene protocols.
“The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine is another critical tool in fighting the COVID-19 virus and significantly decreasing the risks of serious illness, hospitalization, and dying from the virus in our country,” said Jacqueline W. Fincher, MD, MACP, President, ACP. “Every additional resource available will help ease the burden on the public, health care systems and physician practices as we all work to manage the pandemic. Everyone who is recommended to get the COVID-19 vaccine should be strongly encouraged to get theirs as soon as it is available to them.”
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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 163,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact: Andrew Hachadorian, (215) 351-2514, AHachadorian@acponline.org