Detroit’s mayor reportedly said J&J’s vaccines aren’t as good, so he said declined the city’s first shipment

• Detroit’s mayor said no to an initial shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, CNBC reported.
• He reportedly said Detroit had enough supply and it would introduce the single-shot vaccine later.
• 11.3 % of Detroit’s population is currently vaccinated against COVID-19. 
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Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan, said in a press briefing on Thursday that he would not accept a first-time shipment of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot coronavirus vaccine, CNBC reported on Friday. 

Duggan reportedly cited concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy. The vaccine, according to reporting from Insider, has been proven to be 66% effective at preventing coronavirus overall, and data from Johnson & Johnson shows a 100% prevention rate of hospitalizations from the virus.

The FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for “emergency use” by Americans over 18 years of age on February 27.

“Johnson & Johnson is a very good vaccine,” Duggan told media outlets including CNBC on Thursday. “Moderna and Pfizer are the best. And I am going to do everything I can to make sure that residents of the city of Detroit get the best.”

On Friday, Andy Slavitt, a White House coronavirus advisor, told the press that Duggan’s comments had been misconstrued, according to reporting from US News and World Report.

Duggan also reportedly said that Detroit had enough supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to inoculate everyone eligible in the city. He told the city council in a statement reported on CNBC that “as vaccine eligibility expands, Detroit will open a second site offering Johnson & Johnson vaccines.”

According to Detroit’s coronavirus tracking dashboard, 11.3% of the city’s population is currently vaccinated.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. Politico reporter Adam Cancryn tweeted a statement from Duggan’s office saying that the city is making plans to distribute the Johnson & Johnson shot down the line, but not addressing the mayor’s reported refusal directly.

—Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) March 5, 2021

Insider published an analysis on Monday saying that, with its single-shot formulation, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be a better alternative than the two-shot Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for young and healthy people. Given that the shot works after a single appointment, herd immunity is within closer reach.