The Director of Nursing for the City of Athens Health Department, Crystal Jones, 52, carries syringes with the vaccine on the first day of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
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Europe’s drug regulator recommended that the Johnson & Johnson-created one-dose coronavirus vaccine be approved for use in the EU, potentially adding another weapon to the arsenal that is being 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 a single dose and can be stored in most standard refrigerators at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (or about 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), making it easier and cheaper to transport and store.
Once supplies begin to be delivered, the injection can strengthen Europe’s difficult immunization program and is the fourth to be approved by the EMA. The two-dose vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca and by the University of Oxford have also been approved.
Although it is easier to distribute, the vaccine has not been found to be as effective as vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna in preventing Covid infection. However, the data shows that it offers a decent level of protection: US clinical trial data has shown that the J&J vaccine is 72% effective in protecting against moderate to severe Covid (although it has been found to be less potent in trials elsewhere, giving it an overall effectiveness of 66%), compared to about 95% for the other two vaccines.
The speed with which the EU will be able to launch the J&J vaccine is still unclear. The EU ordered 200 million doses of the vaccine, with an option of another 200 million, said Johnson & Johnson in a statement last October.
On Wednesday, however, it was reported that, like other vaccine suppliers to the EU (Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca), the supply of the J&J vaccine to the bloc could be slower than expected.
An unidentified EU official told Reuters that Johnson & Johnson told the EU that it is experiencing supply problems that could complicate plans to deliver 55 million doses of its vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year. CNBC contacted J&J for further comments on the report and has yet to receive a response.
For its part, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Wednesday that it had not been informed of any delay by J&J.
An additional delay in the supply of vaccines would exacerbate the already lethargic implementation of EU vaccination, which has been struggling due to a slower ordering process than in the UK and the USA, slower deliveries, bureaucracy and vaccine hesitation.
In the US, J&J has an agreement with the US government to supply 100 million doses by the end of June, and on Wednesday, the Biden government announced plans to buy an additional 100 million doses. The announcement was made while the White House is working to increase production of the vaccine after it learned earlier this year that the company’s production was delayed.
Last week, Biden announced that pharmaceutical giant Merck would help make the Covid vaccine from J&J. Under the agreement, Merck will dedicate two facilities in the U.S. to the J&J vaccine. One will make the vaccine and the other will provide “fill-finish” services, when the vaccine is placed in vials.
– Berkeley Lovelace Jr., from CNBC, contributed to the reporting of this story.
Correction: this story has been updated to reflect the correct authorization process within the EU.