Athens City Health Department Director of Nursing Crystal Jones, 52, will be loading syringes with the vaccine on the first day of the Johnson and Johnson vaccination.
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The European drug regulator has suggested that the single-dose coronavirus vaccine created by Johnson & Johnson should be approved for use in the EU, which could add another weapon to the currently being used. used to fight Covid-19.
The vaccine will now be sent to the EU Commission for approval later on Thursday.
The vaccine has the added benefit of requiring only one dose and can be stored in most conventional refrigerators at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (or around 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), making it more easier and cheaper to transport and store.
Once supplies begin to be delivered, the outlook could significantly strengthen Europe ‘s struggling vaccination program and this is the fourth one agreed by the EMA. Two-dose vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca and Oxford University were also approved.
While easier to circulate, the vaccine has not been found to be as effective as Pfizer and Moderna images in preventing Covid infection. Nevertheless, the data show that it offers a reasonable level of protection: Clinical trial data from the US have shown that the J&J vaccine is 72% effective in protecting against moderate to severe Covid. bad (although found to be less robust in tests elsewhere, giving it an overall efficacy of 66%), compared with about 95% for the other two vaccines.
It is not yet clear how quickly the EU can roll out the J&J vaccine. The EU has ordered 200 million doses of the picture, with the option for an additional 200 million, Johnson & Johnson said in a statement in October last year.
On Wednesday, however, it was reported that, like other EU vaccine suppliers (Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca), the supply of the J&J vaccine to the bloc could be slower than expected.
One unnamed EU official told Reuters that Johnson & Johnson has told the EU it faces supply issues that could make plans to deliver 55 million doses of its vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year. . CNBC has contacted J&J for further comment on the report and is still not receiving a response.
For its part, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Wednesday that no delays had been reported from J&J.
Further delays in vaccine supply would result in the implementation of a deadly EU vaccine release, which has struggled as a result of a slower ordering process than the UK and US, slower delivery, bureaucracy and vaccine delays.
In the U.S., J&J has a contract with the U.S. government to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June and, Wednesday, the Biden administration announced plans to purchase an additional 100 million doses. The news came as the White House was working to ramp up vaccine production after learning earlier in the year that the company had finally fallen in production.
Last week, Biden announced that pharmaceutical giant Merck would help make J & J’s Covid vaccine. Under the agreement, Merck will provide two facilities in the U.S. to the J&J vaccine. One will provide the vaccine and the other will provide “end-of-life” services, when the vaccine is filtered.
– Berkeley Lovelace Jr. added. from CNBC reported on this story.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct licensing process within the EU.