Wyoming to Receive Nearly 5K Doses of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine This Week

Wyoming will receive nearly 5,000 doses of the new single-shot coronavirus vaccine sometime this week, continuing the state and national push to combat the virus.

EF
Ellen Fike

March 02, 20213 min read

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Wyoming will receive nearly 5,000 doses of the new single-shot coronavirus vaccine sometime this week, continuing the state and national push to combat the virus.

Wyoming Department of Health spokeswoman Kim Deti told Cowboy State Daily that the state would receive a total of 4,800 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine sometime this week, but didn’t have a county-by-county breakdown on where the vaccine would be sent.

“It’s an excellent vaccine and will protect people after just one dose, which means they will be protected in about two weeks after they get vaccinated,” Deti said. “We’re excited we now have three COVID-19 vaccines that are free, safe and effective.”

Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which require two doses to be fully effective, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose.

The U.S. government paid the company $2 billion for development and clinical trials and preorders at a price of $10 per dose just days after the vaccine received emergency authorization for use from federal regulators, according to the Washington Post.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will boost the number of doses the state will receive this month, which was estimated last week to be around 47,000.

That amounts to approximately 5,000 doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines every week.

The totals reported are only for the first doses of the two vaccines, WDH said. It also noted the numbers could change and are only an estimate.

As of last week’s report, Fremont County is receiving only the Pfizer vaccine every week, with 4,680 expected to arrive by the end of the month. Laramie County is receiving more of the Pfizer vaccine, with only 400 doses of the Moderna vaccine scheduled to be delivered for the entirety of March.

Laramie and Natrona counties are expected to receive the largest number of doses of the vaccine next month, with each county getting a total of 5,280 of the two vaccines.

Laramie County has received the most doses of the vaccine since they began shipping out in December, with 12,570 doses. Natrona County followed with 11,970.

“About 19% of our total population has received at least one dose so far,” Deti said. “If you don’t include children (because they are not yet approved to receive the vaccines), about 25% of Wyoming’s eligible population has received at least one dose so far.”

As of Tuesday, 97,638 first doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines had been administered across Wyoming, while 59,274 second doses had been given.

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Ellen Fike

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