First approved  late last month, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a newly approved one-shot vaccine that might make getting the COVID vaccine much easier. Instead of the regular two-shot vaccine that most have taken up to this point, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine not only comes in one dose, but is also able to be kept at a much warmer temperature. According to the Centers for Disease Control website, the vaccine is able to be kept at 36°F to 46°F for up to 3 months. This makes vaccine distribution much easier for smaller hospitals that don’t have large freezers at moment’s notice.

Since being approved in the United States, the vaccine has been approved in several other countries such as the European Union and Canada. Great Britain has ordered a total of 100 million vaccines which have been planned to be distributed by the end of June, whereas COVAX (a program under the World Health Organization) has ordered 500 million with aim of assisting smaller, poorer countries.

While it does take 28 days for the effects of the vaccine to set in, the vaccine has been tested on groups of people in the trial period. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the vaccine is 85% effective in preventing disease across all regions studied.