Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine could be authorized next

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- We could soon be getting much closer to having a third coronavirus vaccine authorized here in the United States.

Early results from the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine trials look promising and unlike the others, it's only one dose.

But it will come down to the phase three trial - that's the last step and largest study before the company can request authorization.

We could see results from the last phase by the end of January. If all goes well, officials say the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be authorized for emergency use by mid-February, with millions of doses ready to go.

There are currently five other potential vaccines in the pipeline in the U.S. Among those, AstraZeneca and Novavax are also in the third phase of testing.

Of course, the more vaccines authorized, the more doses officials have to administer, which is key to turning things around.

"If we can vaccinate about 55% to 60% of this country, and we can do that at one million to 1.5 million doses a day, I think by June we can stop the spread of this virus," said Dr. Paul Offit, vaccine expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

So far, about 10 million Americans have received at least the first dose, which is much fewer than what was expected. But the Secretary of Health and Human Services says within the next week or so, we're on track to reaching that number of one million doses per day across the country.