COVID Live Updates: Johnson & Johnson aims to vaccinate 100 million Americans by April

NEW YORK (WABC) — Johnson & Johnson says it plans to have enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by April.

Right now, the vaccine is undergoing a large scale trial to make sure it’s safe and effective.

Doctor Anthony Fauci says Johnson & Johnson is close to seeking an emergency use authorization from the FDA.

This vaccine only requires one shot and does not need to be stored at as cold of temperatures as others.

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Here are more of today’s headlines:

Former Mets skipper Davey Johnson hospitalized with COVID
Former New York Mets manager Davey Johnson has been hospitalized in Florida with COVID, according to Mets PR. The former manager led the Amazins to their last World Series title in 1986.

High-risk sports could resume in NY in February
High-risk sports can restart in New York State on Feb. 1 if local health departments approve. This includes basketball, wrestling, hockey, volleyball, football and lacrosse. However, whether or not they resume will rely on factors such as if there have been more cases of the more transmissible COVID variant, the local rates of COVID positivity and the ability to monitor and enforce compliance. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran says that schools can resume sports in the county.

2 more vaccine mega sites open in NJ
All six of the New Jersey’s COVID-19 vaccine mega sites are now open, with residents lining up Friday at two new locations in East Rutherford and Atlantic City. This as the state announced they have successfully vaccinated 500,222 residents in a little more than a month. Sites at the Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment Complex and Atlantic City Convention Center were both fully booked, but more appointment times are expected to be added based on availability.

UK chief scientist says new COVID-19 variant may be more deadly, more research needed
There is some evidence that a new coronavirus variant first identified in southeast England carries a higher risk of death than the original strain, the British government’s chief scientific adviser said Friday — though he stressed that the data is uncertain. Patrick Vallance told a news conference that “there is evidence that there is an increased risk for those who have the new variant.” He said that for a man in his 60s with the original version of the virus, “the average risk is that for 1,000 people who got infected, roughly 10 would be expected to unfortunately die.”

“With the new variant, for 1,000 people infected, roughly 13 or 14 people might be expected to die,” he said.

Researchers developing face mask sticker that can detect COVID-19 in droplets
Researchers at UC San Diego’s School of Engineering are working on a potential game changer in the fight against COVID-19. Researchers are looking into a new type of test that could detect the virus on your face mask. The test can be worn as a sticker on your mask. The sticker includes a little dye and works just like an at-home pregnancy test. As someone wears the sticker on the mask throughout the day, it collects droplets. After a few hours, it can detect COVID-19 molecules from your breath.

Dave Chappelle tests positive for COVID-19
Dave Chappelle tested positive for the coronavirus just before his comedy show scheduled for Thursday, forcing his upcoming appearances to be canceled, a spokeswoman said. Chappelle was expected to perform Thursday through Sunday at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin, Texas. Those shows have been canceled and Chappelle is quarantining, his representative Carla Sims said in a statement. The comedian is asymptomatic. Chappelle had been performing socially-distanced shows in Ohio since June, and moved his shows to Austin during the winter, Sims said. Rapid testing for the audience and daily tests for Chappelle and his team were implemented.

NJ vaccinates 500,000
The state of New Jersey has vaccinated 500,222 residents in a little more than a month, Governor Phil Murphy announced on Friday. He also added that two COVID patients in the state were found to have the more aggressive strain first found in the UK.

NY hospitalization rate of increase is slowing
The rate of increase of patients being admitted to New York hospitals for treatment for COVID-19 is slowing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday. Cuomo called it “good news,” but cautioned that the more contagious variants discovered in other parts of the world remain a threat and could cause cases to spike again. COVID hospitalizations stood at 8,846, down from 9,055 the day before and has now dropped by more than 400 over the past two days.

NYC and state could run out of vaccines Friday
93% of the state’s vaccine supply now exhausted, both the city and the state are on pace to run out of vaccines.
There are 300,000 shots waiting in storage for second doses.
The city is now considering giving them as first doses for those still waiting and backfilling the supply and delaying by a few weeks the second shot for those who already gotten the first.

Top 7 COVID vaccine questions answered
You had questions about COVID-19 vaccines and 7 On Your Side is getting you answers from doctors on the front line of the pandemic.

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