The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Friday, 28 May, gave its approval for the use of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock was quoted as saying, “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,” news agency AFP reported.
Hancock added that the UK government hopes the single-shot vaccine “will play an important role in the months to come”, as young people concerned over the variant detected in India (B.1.617) are coming forward to take their vaccinations.
So far, Britain has ordered 20 million doses of the vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency, however, expressed concern and said in April that a warning about unusual blood clots in patients with low blood platelet count should be added to its product information, following cases in the United States.
According to a US trial, the vaccine was found to be 72 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID infection.
Meanwhile, Britain has administered over 62 million shots, primarily using the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines. The Moderna vaccine was also given approval recently.
Britain was planning the reopening of the country on 21 June, however, infections have started to rise again due to the emergence of the B.1.617 variant.
(With inputs from AFP)
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