Florida residents participate in Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial

AdventHealth tested Johnson and Johnson vaccine

Rival drug makers will join forces to make even more COVID-19 vaccine doses. The Biden administration says Merck will dedicate two facilities in the United States to make the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. FOX 35 has learned that hundreds of people in Central Florida have gotten the Johnson and Johnson vaccine through trials conducted by AdventHealth.

LAKE MARY, Fla. - Four hundred people in Central Florida were part of a global effort to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved by participating in a trial.

The principal investigator for the trials said some of the participants received the real vaccine, while the others got a placebo.

"We followed them over time to see how many of those people actually were infected by COVID-19 and whether they had mild, moderate, severe COVID or were hospitalized or died actually," AdventHealth Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Steven Smith said.

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The vaccine trial was performed at 200 different sites across the world. 50 of them were in the U.S., including AdventHealth’s hospitals in downtown Orlando, East Orlando, and Kissimmee.

Though there are some mild side effects, like brushing and minor pain at the injection site, doctors said most of the patients provided positive feedback about the vaccine.

"That’s what vaccines do," Smith said. "They’re our first line of defense against COVID and we’re pleased with the response from the community and from our patients who want to get a dose of vaccine."

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AdventHealth doctors said the people who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine during the trial will be monitored over the next two years. They also said the people who received the placebo will receive the actual vaccine once it is available to the public.

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