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An 86-year-old Ohio woman became the first person in the US to receive the single-dose coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday, according to a report.
Barbara Schmalenberger got the newly-approved shot at the Schottenstein Center arena at The Ohio State University, CNN reported.
“I wanted this shot. I didn’t want to settle for anything else,” she told the outlet.
The J&J vaccine was cleared for emergency use by the feds over the weekend, joining the ranks of the already in-use COVID-19 inoculations made by Pfizer and Moderna, which require two doses.
It can be stored for months at refrigerated temperatures, rather than needing to be frozen like the others.
States are expected to receive some 2.8 million doses of the J&J shot this week.
Schmalenberger said she was excited to receive the shot, and described feeling “just a little bit of warmth and then that was it. It faded away.”
Ohio State University clinic manager Paige Blankenship (left) administers one of the first Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to Osvaldo Campanella in Columbus, Ohio. APShe had specifically waited for the J&J shot.
“It’s better because it’s one shot and also a very trusted name from clear back from when my children were babies,” she told CNN.
“Something just kept telling me to wait on this.”
The octogenarian urged others to also get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“You need to get it because it protects you,” she said. “For your health you need to get it, but also, too, get the one that you feel the best about, and I felt the best about this from day one.”
J&J has said its vaccine was found to be 66 percent effective overall in preventing moderate to severe illness, 28 days after vaccination and 85 percent effective in preventing severe disease.
The Pfizer and Moderna shots were found to be about 95 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 infection — but health officials have stressed that all three vaccines are highly effective.
