Single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine approved for use in the UK. (PA) The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine has been approved for use in the UK. The new vaccine has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It is the fist single-dose vaccine to be approved in the UK and the fourth overall after the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The news comes as the vaccine rollout continues to gather pace with Matt Hancock announcing this week that 60 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been given in the UK. Welcoming the approval of the vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen, the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “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.
Doses expected to be available from later this year
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (
MHRA) has today announced that the COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen meets the expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. The independent Commission on Human Medicines (
CHM) has reviewed the
MHRA’s decision and endorsed it.
Earlier this year, the single-dose vaccine was shown to be 67% effective overall in preventing COVID-19 infection and 85% effective in preventing severe disease or hospitalisation.
The vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures, between 2 and 8 degrees, making it ideal for distribution to care homes and other locations across the UK.
Through the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce, 20 million doses of the vaccine have been secured for all 4 nations of the UK and first deliveries are expected to arrive from later this year.