De Blasio plans to get J&J COVID-19 vaccine 'to show people it's the right choice'

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday said he planned to assuage New Yorkers' concerns about the efficacy of Johnson & Johnson's newly-approved COVID-19 vaccine by getting it himself.

At a news briefing on Tuesday morning, a reporter asked de Blasio about concerns that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is "not as effective" as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine "is rated as highly effective at preventing serious illness and death as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are," but is "a bit less" effective — though still "very effective" — at preventing milder illnesses, the New York Times reported.

De Blasio, 59, responded that he would be getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine when he becomes eligible.

"I want to show people it's the right choice," he said. "And I, for one, look forward to only getting one shot rather than two. Not because I can't handle shots, but because of the schedule and everything else."

"We have people who aren't showing up for their second shot. That's a problem, if it takes two shots to be effective," he added. "But when you get one shot and it's done, and you're protected, your life is protected. You're not going to end up in the hospital. That's the name of the game."

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will prevent those who receive it from seeing "severe outcomes" if they do end up contracting COVID-19, Dr. Jay Varma, de Blasio's senior adviser for public health, stressed at the briefing.

"What really has devastated our societies and killed so many people… are these severe outcomes. So, what is it that we know about these vaccines? They stop those severe outcomes," Varma said. "It doesn't matter whether you get Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, or Moderna. The results are absolutely clear."

"Once you get vaccinated and you wait a few weeks for your body to build up that system, there are basically close to zero hospitalizations and absolutely zero deaths," he added. "So what we need to do about this virus is stop it from making people seriously ill, stop it from overrunning our health system, stop it from killing people. And all three vaccines do that equally."