NORWICH – The first doses of the newly approved Janssen COVID-19 vaccine to be given in Chenango County were administered Thursday at UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich.

The single-dose vaccine, developed by Johnson & Johnson, received emergency use authorization from the Food & Drug Administration on February 27.

“This is another historic day in the fight against COVID-19 for both our hospital and community,” said David Finney, RN, Vice President of Clinical Services at the Norwich hospital.

According to Finney, UHS Chenango Memorial received their first allocation of the single-dose vaccine on Wednesday, as did its sister UHS facilities in Broome County.

Finney and his vaccine planning team wasted no time in their efforts to ensure the doses could be administered both in accordance with New York State’s direction for their use, and within the seven day timeframe.

“The guidance we received for this allocation does differ from how we were directed to use our past allocations,” he said.