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- WHO approves Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.
- The move will pave the way for an additional 500 million doses to enter the global COVAX vaccine exchange scheme.
- Sample data from large clinical trials shared by the company also shows that the vaccine is effective in older populations, says the WHO.
The World Health Organization (WHO) approved Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday, a move that will pave the way for an additional 500 million doses to enter the global COVAX vaccine exchange scheme.
“Each new, safe and effective tool against COVID-19 is one more step towards controlling the pandemic,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The news comes after the single-dose jab got European Union approval on Thursday.
It has also received the green light from regulators in the United States, Canada and South Africa.
The World Health Organization said the J&J vaccine has been given an “emergency use list” that assesses the suitability of new health products during public health emergencies and is faster than the regular licensing system.
The organization has already granted an emergency use list to AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that are manufactured in India and South Korea, as well as jabs made by Pfizer / BioNTech.
A decision is expected no later than March on China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac jabs, along with the Moderna vaccine.
‘Narrow vaccine inequalities’
The WHO authorization paves the way for jabs to be used as part of the Covax initiative to ensure equitable access to vaccines in the poorest countries.
Some 500 million doses of J&J jabs have been promised to the facility and WHO hopes it can be implemented through the scheme starting in July, if not earlier.
“As new vaccines become available, we must ensure that they become part of the global solution, and not another reason why some countries and people are lagging further behind,” Tedros said in a briefing.
“We hope this new vaccine will help reduce vaccine inequalities and not deepen them,” he said.
Clinical trials have found that the J&J injection was 67 percent effective in preventing people from contracting COVID-19.
But that result considered all forms of Covid-19. The jab was shown to be 85.4 percent effective in preventing serious illness.
“Sample data from large clinical trials shared by the company also show that the vaccine is effective in older populations,” WHO said.
However, the J&J injection appears less protective than the Pfizer and Moderna regimens, which are about 95 percent effective against all COVID-19 forms of the classic strain of coronavirus.
But while those vaccines must be stored at very low temperatures, J&J jabs are stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, but can be kept for three months at refrigerated temperatures.
And since it is a single-dose injection, the WHO said it hoped it would facilitate vaccination logistics in all countries, the WHO said.
J&J welcomed the authorization from the WHO and said its punches will be made available on a non-profit basis.
“Today’s milestone represents significant progress in ensuring global access to our single injection vaccine,” said President and CEO Alex Gorsky.
“We are moving with urgency and purpose to meet our commitments to the global community as we do everything we can to help end the pandemic.”
No vaccine deaths
The WHO said on Friday that its group of vaccine experts will meet next week to make recommendations on the use of the vaccine.
The authorization of the J&J vaccine is good news after the WHO had to jump in defense of the AstraZeneca jab, which for now makes up almost all of the doses distributed by COVAX.
The WHO insisted on Friday that there was no reason to stop using that vaccine after several countries suspended the launch for fear of blood clots.
The UN health agency said it was examining the safety data, but stressed that a causal link between the vaccine and clotting had not been established.
“So far more than 335 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, and no deaths caused by Covid-19 vaccines have been found,” Tedros said.
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