India grants Emergency Use Authorisation to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vacine

New Delhi: US Pharmaceutical major Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has been given emergency use approval in India, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya said on Saturday.

Announcing the news on Twitter, the Health Minister said India now has five emergency use authorization (EUA) vaccines, adding that this will further boost nation’s collective fight against coronavirus.

“India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India. Now India has 5 EUA vaccines. This will further boost our nation’s collective fight against #COVID-19,” he tweeted.

Earlier India has granted EUA to four vaccines- Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik and Moderna. There are five more vaccines in the pipeline – Zydus Cadila’s ZyCOV-D,  Gennova’s mRNA vaccine, Biological E’s Corbevax, Covaxin’s nasal vaccine and Novovax’s Covovax which are expected to be available by October.

On July 1, Johnson & Johnson said that its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine ‘Janssen’ generated strong, persistent activity against the rapidly spreading Delta variant and other highly prevalent SARS-CoV-2 viral variants. In addition, the data showed that the durability of the immune response lasted through at least eight months, the length of time evaluated to date.

The single-dose vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels with ease of delivery to remote areas. The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -4°F (-20°C), and a maximum of 4.5 months at routine refrigeration temperatures of 36° to 46°F (2° to 8°C).