EU regulator to decide on one-shot J&J vaccine next week

The European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday that it is set to decide whether to authorise Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine for the EU on March 11.

If approved by the Amsterdam-based regulator, the vaccine would be the fourth to get the green light for the 27-nation bloc, in a boost for its slow-starting vaccination programme.

"EMA's human medicines committee expected to give its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen on 11 March" at a special meeting, the watchdog said on Twitter.

Janssen-Cilag is the European subsidiary of US pharma giant J&J.

The EMA had previously said it expected to make a decision in mid-March, after Johnson & Johnson filed for approval on February 16.

The EU has so far approved three vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford.

But the J&J would be the first that requires a single injection as opposed to two jabs, as well as being easier to store.

The Johnson & Johnson shot appears less protective than Pfizer and Moderna's regimes, which both have an efficacy of around 95 percent against all forms of COVID-19 from the classic coronavirus strain.

© 2021 AFP