ShareThe European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) announced today that the single dose Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for use in individuals 18 years of age and older in the European Union.
Developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) in Belgium and the Netherlands, this vaccine is the fourth to be approved by the EMA. The others are the German-American BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine and the US Moderna vaccine.
The EMA pointed out that the data for the J&J vaccine was “robust” and “met the criteria for efficacy, safety and quality.” Trails showed that the vaccine was well tolerated and showed a 67% reduction in Covid-19 as well as a 85% efficacy in preventing severe disease.
In comparison to the other vaccines, the J&J vaccine can be administered in a single shot. A further advantage is that it can be stored in regular refrigerators (between 2°-8°C) for up to three months.
The European Union has already ordered 400 million doses. This announcement comes as a relief for 450 million citizens in 27 countries, as the EU has been lagging behind the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Israel in rolling out their vaccination programme.
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