India Endorses J&J Vaccine; no delivery time yet

Aug. 7 (Reuters) – India approved Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet on Saturday, but the company said it was too early to give a delivery time.

The pharmaceutical giant had requested approval for emergency use of its vaccine, the company said on Friday. The vaccine will be shipped to India under a supply agreement with local vaccine maker Biological E Ltd, J&J said.

“While we look forward to meeting our delivery commitments, it is premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries,” the company said in an email response to Reuters.

Indian health authorities have so far approved the use of vaccines developed by AstraZeneca (AZN.L), Bharat Biotech, Russian Institute Gamaleya and Moderna (MRNA.O).

Despite Moderna’s vaccine approval in June, not a single dose has yet arrived amid wrangling over the legal protection the company is seeking.

It is not known if J&J has reached a deal with the government on legal issues. The American company Pfizer has not yet applied for authorization to use its vaccine in India.

“This decision was based on efficacy and safety data from the ENSEMBLE phase 3 clinical trial, which demonstrated that our single injection vaccine was 85% effective in preventing serious disease in all areas studied,” and has shown protection against hospitalizations and death from COVID-19. , starting 28 days after vaccination, ”J&J said in an emailed statement.

“This is an important step forward in accelerating the availability of our COVID-19 vaccine to help end the pandemic. “

Coronavirus cases around the world topped 200 million earlier in the week, according to a Reuters tally, as the most infectious Delta variant is straining health systems.

India has reported an average of 30,000 to 40,000 new cases of coronavirus every day since July. Although daily cases fell from a high of 400,000 at the height of Wave 2, the federal government warned the danger had not yet abated.

India administered 501 million doses of the vaccine, the largest of any country after China, but just over 10% of its adult population received both doses.

Reporting by Swati Bhat in Mumbai and Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Christina Fincher

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