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Now it’s Johnson & Johnson’s turn. A panel of outside experts is meeting Friday for a third time to consider whether the Food and Drug Administration ought to give an emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine, this one from J&J. (Branswell and Herper, 2/26)

A government advisory committee is likely to give a thumbs up Friday to a third COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way to increased supply of the much-in-demand vaccines. The new vaccine, from drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, offers a few advantages over the two that have been administered to 45 million Americans since mid-December, although it may be somewhat less effective. (Weintraub, 2/26)

It's the next step in a process that could end with the new vaccine's rollout early next week. As with the two currently authorized vaccines, advisers and federal agencies are meeting over a weekend to try to get the vaccines to the US public as soon as possible. The FDA has already considered the advanced, Phase 3 clinical trial testing data presented by Janssen and says it shows the vaccine is safe and effective. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee or VRBPAC is made up of vaccine experts and other medical professionals, industry and consumer representatives who will consider presentations from FDA about its findings, as well as from Janssen. (Fox, 2/26)

With the first shipments of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine expected as early as next week, White House officials are prepping a campaign to send the message that it provides good protection against the virus and that, just like the two other major vaccines, it will be distributed equally among all communities in the U.S. (Przybyla, 2/26)

Bahrain became the first nation to authorize Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on Thursday, the government announced, just a day after U.S. regulators concluded the shot offers strong protection against severe COVID-19. The island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia said it would dole out J&J’s shot to the most vulnerable people, including older adults and those with chronic conditions, without specifying when. It was also unclear when doses would be delivered to the country, which already offers vaccines by state-backed Chinese firm Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNtech and Oxford-AstraZeneca, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V to its roughly 2 million residents. (2/25)

KHN: Why AstraZeneca And J&J’s Vaccines, In Use The World Over, Are Still On Hold In America

The World Health Organization greenlighted emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford’s covid-19 vaccine this month, following in the steps of the United Kingdom, the European Union and others, who are already injecting it as quickly as possible into the masses. But the United States is still waiting. As covid deaths mount daily, critics say the Food and Drug Administration is moving too slowly. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus is evolving, with new variants stalking populations the world over. (Tribble, 2/26)