J&J COVID vaccine: India is expecting to receive Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine doses from October 2021. The vaccine will be packed and shipped in India by the Indian partner of US pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J). This will be a major boost to the vision of PM Narendra Modi to vaccine the entire population with at least one dose of vaccine.
The Central government is yet to sign a supply deal with Johnson & Johnson, as per media reports. Once signed, J&J’s Indian partner company Biological E will formulate and make 5ml vials of the vaccine.
J&J COVID-19 vaccine in India: Doses, Approval, Safety
Doses
India could receive up to 43.5 million doses of the single-shot J&J vaccine in October which would help the country meet its target of producing more than 300 million COVID-19 doses in October.
Emergency Use Authorization
On August 6, 2021, the Drugs Controller General of India had given Emergency Use Authorization to J&J COVID-19 vaccine, whether imported or locally supplied by J&J’s Indian partner company Biological E.
Johnson & Johnson had applied for the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its vaccine to the Indian government on August 5, 2021. The EUA was submitted based on the results of efficacy and safety data from the Phase-3 ENSEMBLE clinical trials.
Clinical trial and safety
The trial showcased that the single-shot J&J COVID vaccine was 85 per cent effective in preventing severe COVID-19 infection. The vaccine showed an increased level of protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and deaths, after 28 days of getting the vaccine.
Also read: Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine to be available in India by Mid-July
Johnson and Johnson partners with Biological E. in India to produce vaccine
US Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) on May 18, 2021, had announced that it has partnered with Biological E, a Telangana-based pharma company in India, to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine Janssen in India.
The single-shot J&J COVID-19 vaccine ‘Janssen’ has been approved in the US, UK, Europe, South Africa, and Thailand.
India exports vaccines under Vaccine Maitri programme
India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The country had to shut down its exports in April 2021 in order to meet its own domestic demands for vaccines.
However, once it fulfills the domestic demands, it plans to resume its exports of vaccines under the Vaccine Maitri programme from October 2021 in order to fulfill its demands towards COVAX, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on September 20, 2021.
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