UK Medicines Regulator Approves Johnson & Johnson Single Jab Coronavirus Vaccine
The jab has been approved for use in the UK (PA)
2 min read
The UK's drug regulator has approved the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for use. It will be available later this year.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi welcomed the approval saying it gave the UK "another weapon in our arsenal to beat the pandemic".
The vaccine, also known by the name, Janssen, is the fourth jab to be approved for use in the UK, joining the Pfizer, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced on Friday that the jab had met its expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.
The UK's vaccine task force had originally secured 30 million doses of the jab, but has altered its order down to 20 million given the scale of the vaccine programme so far.
Studies earlier this year showed the single-jab vaccine was 67% effective in preventing Covid infections and 85% effective in preventing severe illness or hospitalisation.
Announcing the move, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the jab would play an "important role" in the UK's vaccine programme.
"This is a further boost to the UK's hugely successful vaccination programme, which has already saved over 13,000 lives, and means that we now have four safe and effective vaccines approved to help protect people from this awful virus," he said.
"As Janssen is a single-dose vaccine, it will play an important role in the months to come as we redouble our efforts to encourage everyone to get their jabs and potentially begin a booster programme later this year."
Meanwhile, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi, said: "The Janssen vaccine will be another weapon in our arsenal to beat this pandemic.
"We are doing everything we can to vaccinate all adults as quickly as possible and I encourage everybody to come forward for a jab as soon as they are eligible."
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