Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval is another shot in the arm for the world
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has been approved in the US, a sign that the world is making solid progress against Covid-19. Matthew Partridge reports


Good news for Johnson & Johnson (J&J): the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally approved the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, says Oliver Milman in The Observer. The move comes after studies showed that it was not only 85% effective in preventing severe cases of Covid-19, but also offered “complete protection” against Covid-19-related hospitalisation and death after 28 days. As a result, the J&J vaccine will become only the third jab to be authorised for use in the United States. What’s more, unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are already in circulation, J&J’s vaccine only needs a single shot and “can be stored at common refrigerator temperatures for up to three months”.
J&J’s vaccine may have been approved, but it may take some time to reach American arms, say Hannah Kuchler and Donato Paolo Mancini in the Financial Times. J&J says “production problems” mean that it will only be able to hand over four million doses to the US government, rather than the ten million originally expected, although it still expects to meet its promise to deliver 100 million by June. It has also had problems in Europe, where its plans to “scale up its vaccine... manufacturing from a small facility to a large one in the Netherlands” took longer than anticipated.
Dispelling the lockdown gloom
Despite the delay, the approval of J&J’s vaccine should help dispel the “lockdown gloom”, says Robert Cyran on Breakingviews. Other manufacturers are also boosting production, with Pfizer planning “to more than double output from nearly five million doses a week to 13 million”. Moderna “thinks it will double production to 40 million a month by April”. Throw in the fact that there are “more new vaccines on the horizon”, and it likely that most of the populations of wealthy countries will be vaccinated relatively quickly, which “will make things easier for less wealthy countries, too”.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
But not all vaccine makers are doing equally well, says Nils Pratley in The Guardian. While J&J, Pfizer and Moderna are forecast to make a “chunky profit”, AstraZeneca’s decision to sell the initial batch of vaccines at a much lower price means its only benefit “has been goodwill”. In fact, it may not get even that, thanks to “opportunists in Brussels” angry about production delays and officials in France and Germany talking down its efficacy for over-65s – even though it’s been approved for all ages by the European Medicine Agency.
All this makes AstraZeneca’s decision to sell its 7.7% stake in Moderna particularly unfortunate, says Alex Ralph in The Times. While the move netted AstraZeneca a profit of $1.1bn on an investment of $400m, the decision to cash in early means that it has missed out in the surge of Moderna’s share price “from about $29 a year ago to a peak of $186 last month”. AstraZeneca would have been sitting on a “significantly larger paper profit”, possibly three times as much, had it retained its stake in the US biotech.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
Rural homes beat urban properties for price growth – where are house prices soaring?
We look at the top performing rural local authorities for house price growth
-
Santander axes 1% cashback on spending for Edge account customers
Santander will stop awarding cashback on everyday spending for its Edge customers, limiting cashback to just bills
-
Investment opportunities in the world of Coca-Cola
There is far more to Coca-Cola than just one giant firm. The companies that bottle and distribute the ubiquitous soft drink are promising investments in their own right.
-
Streaming services are the new magic money tree for investors – but for how long?
Opinion Streaming services are in full bloom and laden with profits, but beware – winter is coming, warns Matthew Lynn
-
'Pension funds shouldn't be pushed into private equity sector'
Opinion The private-equity party is over, so don't push pension funds into the sector, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Greg Abel: Warren Buffett’s heir takes the throne
Greg Abel is considered a safe pair of hands as he takes centre stage at Berkshire Hathaway. But he arrives after one of the hardest acts to follow in investment history, Warren Buffett. Can he thrive?
-
Who will be the next Warren Buffett?
Opinion There won’t be another Warren Buffett. Times have changed, and the opportunities are no longer there, says Matthew Lynn.
-
Will Comstock crash – or soar?
Opinion The upside for Comstock, a solar panel-recycling and biomass-refining group, dwarfs the downside, says Dominic Frisby.
-
'As AGMs go digital, firms must offer a new form of scrutiny for shareholders'
Opinion Technology has rendered big AGM meet-ups obsolete, but the board still needs to be held to account, says Matthew Lynn
-
Unilever braces for inflation amid tariff uncertainty – what does it mean for investors?
Consumer-goods giant Unilever has made steady progress simplifying its operations. Will tariffs now cause turbulence?