Janssen pharmaceuticals K.K., a department of Johnson& Johnson pharmaceuticals, has announced on Monday that it has applied to the Health Ministry of Japan to approve its Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the results of the clinical trials of vaccines conducted in Japan, the Janssen pharmaceutical K.K. department of J&J claimed that its singe shot COVID-19 vaccine is safe to be used in people.
This vaccine will be Japan’s fourth approved vaccine, following the vaccine from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca Plc. Of the United Kingdom, and Moderna Inc. of United States.
The government’s COVID-19 immunization effort, which has been criticized for its slow deployment as compared to several other developed nations, is expected to get benefit from the one-shot vaccine of Johnson & Johnson, which might be available in Japan in early 2022.
After a vaccination program for the health care professionals in February, Japan has started to vaccinate its older people of 36 million in population in mid-April.
Amid the fourth wave of disease and being the third viral emergency state, Japan has the lowest percentage in immunizing people with COVID-19 vaccine across all OECD countries, with just about 4% of the population receiving a single shot of the vaccine, according to the current official data.
On Monday, a large number of government-operated vaccination sites were launched in Osaka and Tokyo provinces, to immunize 36 million elderly people of 65 years of age or older till July, out of the overall population of 126 million.
Issues have been expressed regarding the J&J vaccine, in addition to the AstraZeneca vaccine which was formulated in collaboration with the University of Oxford, after the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) announced earlier this month that approximately 30 people out of 8.7 million who had been inoculated with the vaccine, experienced a rare blood clotting disease.
However, Johnson & Johnson’s Chief Scientific Officer, Paul Stoffels, States in a statement that the company’s one-shot vaccine can contribute to the global fight against the outbreak.
“As the global pandemic continues to devastate communities around the world, we believe a single-shot, easily transportable COVID-19 vaccine with demonstrated protection against multiple variants can help protect the health and safety of people everywhere,” Stoffels stated.
“We will collaborate with health authorities around the world to educate health care professionals and the public to ensure this very rare event can be identified early and treated effectively,” he added.
