Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine could arrive in India by July

The Association of Healthcare Providers (India) is in the process of privately procuring the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine directly from the US-based manufacturer.

J&J’s single-shot vaccine could possibly arrive in the country in small quantities at first with a few thousand doses available. According to India Today, the vaccine will be priced at ₹1,850 in India.

To authenticate its manufacturing process as well as speculations in India, the US-based pharmaceutical major had initiated discussions with the Union Government. It was also in talks to administer a bridging clinical study. Nevertheless, under the new rules formulated by the government, US drug regulator approved vaccines do not need to conduct bridging trials in the country.

Not long ago, J&J had been in talks with the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL), India’s apex vaccine testing laboratory through its Indian partner Biological E. Hence, the one-shot vaccine is expected to be approved for use in the country in the upcoming months.

J&J’s Janssen vaccine, which is one of the first one-shot COVID-19 vaccines, was approved for emergency use in the countries of US and UK.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccine’s efficacy is 66.3 per cent for mild to moderate COVID-19 infections and 76.3 per cent for severe to critical cases. In addition, it gives 100 per cent protection from hospitalization for COVID-19 infection only after 28 days of vaccination.