Colombia approves J&J Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use

The Colombian National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute (INVIMA) has approved Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-shot Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the country.

The vaccine is developed by J&J’s pharmaceutical wing, Janssen, Reuters reported.

Colombian government had entered into an agreement with J&J to obtain nine million doses of this vaccine.

The news agency quoted INVIMA director Julio Cesar Aldana as saying in a government’s nightly broadcast: “In its capacity as regulator, INVIMA has authorised the emergency use of the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Janssen, of the multinational J&J.

“In addition to being a one-dose vaccine, the J&J vaccine has less demanding storage needs than some other approved vaccines.”

At present, Colombia has approved the use of vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

The country has closed deals for vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Sinovac while it is set to get vaccine doses through the COVAX mechanism backed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Over 2.35 million Covid-19 cases were reported in the country with over 62,500 deaths recorded.

It has dosed over 1.38 million vaccine shots and anticipates inoculating around 70% of its people to achieve herd immunity.

Meanwhile, the Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorisation to Janssen’s single-dose Covid-19.

Thailand Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirankul told reporters that the Thai FDA approved the vaccine, which is the third to get authorised in the country after those of AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

As per the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration report, Thailand reported 97 Covid-19 cases on 25 March with total confirmed cases standing at 28,443.