Johnson & Johnson seeks approval for its single dose Covid-19 vaccine in India

Global healthcare major Johnson & Johnson announced it has applied for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India.

"On August 5, 2021, Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd applied for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of its single-dose covid-19 vaccine to the Government of India," said the statement issued by J&J.

Earlier, the company had applied for a trial in India, but the Centre had done away with the provision of trial for reputed and recognised vaccines, and asked the vaccine maker to directly apply for approval.

J&J then withdrew its earlier application and issued a statement saying it "remains committed" to bringing its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine to the Indian population.

"This is an important milestone that paves the way to bringing our single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the people of India, and the rest of the world, through a collaboration with Biological E Limited. Biological E will be an important part of our global supply chain network, helping to supply our Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine through the extensive collaborations and partnerships we have with governments, health authorities and organisations such as Gavi and the COVAX facility," the company said in a statement.

If J&J's vaccine gets approved in India, it will be the second foreign-manufactured vaccine to get approval in the country after Moderna.

"We look forward to concluding our discussions with the government of India to accelerate the availability of our Covid-19 vaccine to help end the pandemic," Johnson & Johnson stated.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the J&J vaccine's efficacy is 66.3 per cent for mild to moderate Covid-19 and 76.3 per cent for severe to critical infection. In addition, it provides 100 per cent protection from hospitalisation 28 days after vaccination.

The US FDA had authorised J&J Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in February 2021. The single-shot vaccine is approved in several countries today.

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