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Starting next month, the ‘Janssen’ COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is likely to be available in the country. The Association of Healthcare Providers(India), which claims to represent “the majority of healthcare providers” in the country, has begun negotiations to directly procure the vaccine from J&J. Unlike other vaccines currently in use, the vaccine developed by J&J requires only one dose and provides 66.3% protection from mild COVID-19.
The J&J vaccine is expected to be available from July in small quantities and would be priced at Rs 1,850 per dose, sources revealed to India Today. The single-dose vaccine has already been approved in the US and UK and is recommended for those above 18 years of age according to the guidelines of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The American vaccine maker J&J is already in talks with the Indian government regarding the manufacturing process and the need to conduct a bridging trial in the country. Indian pharma company Biological E, which will manufacture the J&J vaccine in India, has also held discussions with the country’s top most vaccine testing lab- the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kasauli. The Indian health regulators are expected to approve the single-dose vaccine in a few months. With the vaccine getting approval in the US and UK, a bridging trial would not be required in India, according to the latest guidelines of the regulators.
Currently, 3 vaccines- Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V have been approved and are in use in the country. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, India has administered over 31.6 lakh doses of vaccines till now. the pace of vaccination has increased significantly after the central government took over the job of vaccine procurement from states on June 21. As of, 7:50 PM, 60,94,590 doses of vaccines were given across the country on Saturday.