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The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday to list the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, for emergency use, following the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorization a day earlier, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The COVID-19 vaccine Ad26.COV2.S from Janssen is the first to be listed by the WHO as a single-dose regimen, which should facilitate vaccination logistics in all countries, the WHO said.
Though the vaccine needs to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, which may prove challenging in some environments, it can be kept for three months at two to eight degrees Celsius and it has a long shelf life of two years, the WHO noted.
To expedite the listing of COVID-19 vaccines, the WHO and a team of assessors from all regions adopted an “abbreviated assessment” based on outcomes of the EMA review, focusing on low- and middle-income country needs.
The WHO assessment also considered suitability requirements such as cold chain storage and risk management plans to be implemented in countries. The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Immunization Experts is expected to formulate recommendations on the use of the Janssen vaccine next week.
“Every new, safe and effective tool against COVID-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But the hope offered by these tools will not materialize unless they are made available to all people in all countries.”
He urged governments and companies to use all solutions at their disposal to ramp up production so that “these tools become truly global public goods, available and affordable to all, and a shared solution to the global crisis.”
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