With pharmaceutical companies getting the emergency authorization of its Covid vaccine in the US, Johnson & Johnson has now asked the regulators to grant approval of its single-shot Covid vaccine. Once approved, the vaccination would be the third in the United States. Also Read: Vaccine Passport-Soon To Be 'The New Normal'
How is Johnson & Johnson vaccination different?
Johnson & Johnson vaccination offers logistical advantages because of its single-dose and also doesn't require deep-freeze storage, as per the news agency AFP. However, the trials showed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not protect as well against a highly transmissible virus variant first identified in South Africa, which is spreading rapidly around the world.
An advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration will meet to consider the application on February 26. The committee will be responsible for determining whether the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Although this step took about three weeks for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines but could be faster this time around. The final green light will then be given, probably the next day.
The company towards the end of last week of its trial announced the results of its clinical trials which have been carried out on nearly 44,000 people in eight countries.
It has been overall 66 percent effective, and 85 percent effective in preventing severe forms of the disease, as per the company. The company said once authorized then will be able to deliver 100 million doses to the US by the end of June, a major supply of vaccines in a nation of some 320 million people.
How are inoculation efforts shaping up globally?
The Red Cross launched a campaign on Thursday to help get 500 million vaccines to people in poorer countries, as Iran received its first jabs from Russia. There is a growig pressure on richer countries to help in a global inoculation effort, with Red Cross chief Jagan Chapagain warning that the current unequal rollout "could backfire to deadly and devastating effect."
It could prolong or even worsen this terrible pandemic," he said, promising to pour more than $100 million into an effort to distribute vaccines and encourage uptake.
So far, more than 115 million doses have been distributed around the world, but the vast majority of those doses have gone to richer nations. Experts warn that vaccines will only control the virus -- which has killed more than two million -- if the whole world is covered.
Otherwise, people will have to continue living under lockdowns with travel restrictions, curfews, and closed businesses.
The economic devastation was once again underlined on Thursday with oil giant Royal Dutch Shell announcing more than $21 billion in losses and shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries losing more than $700 million.