Johnson & Johnson and Novovax COVID-19 vaccine results

In response to Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) and Novovax release of Phase 3 Trial results of their respective COVID-19 vaccines, Niko Lusiani, Senior Advisor with Oxfam America, made the following statement: 

“Today marks yet another hopeful achievement in the fight against the coronavirus. Thanks to tireless scientific efforts, and funding from taxpayers like you and me, these two new vaccines could help turn the corner in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The speed that the virus is mutating is only reinforcing the need for mass-produced vaccines available to everyone, everywhere, as soon as possible. 

“As a single-dose, lower-cost vaccine, with corporate commitments to ensure access to all countries, rich and poor alike, the JNJ vaccine candidate could especially provide just the boost the world needs to save lives, rebuild livelihoods and prevent people from falling even deeper into poverty and despair.  

“But no one company alone can produce enough vaccines to bend the curve completely. That’s why every COVID-19 vaccine must be a People’s Vaccine: patent-free, mass produced, distributed fairly based on need, and made available free of charge, to everyone, everywhere. 

“A People’s Vaccine, mass produced by qualified manufacturers around the world, is the only way we can make the greatest number of doses in the shortest amount of time and ensure access for everyone. There’s not a minute to waste. 

“From development to production to procurement, JNJ’s vaccine was funded largely by the public, so it must be a public good. JNJ’s commitments to more equitable distribution and a non-profit single pandemic price are encouraging steps forward. Next up, the corporation can stake out a position of global leadership in the struggle against COVID by committing to keep its vaccine price at-cost after the pandemic, and sharing its vaccine knowledge, technology, intellectual property, data and know-how to boost supply, reduce price and enhance equity.” 

“President Biden has a special opportunity to replace the narrow vaccine nationalism of the recent past with the global vaccine solidarity of the future. That’s why more than 100 high-level leaders from public health, faith-based, racial justice, and labor organizations, joined former members of Congress, economists and artists in a public letter calling on President Biden to make every COVID-19 vaccine a People’s Vaccine: a global public good, freely and fairly available to all, prioritizing those most in need here at home and around the world.”