The candidate for the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson JNJ,
Janssen Pharmaceutica’s subsidiary could be urgently authorized by British regulators in a few weeks, boosting the country’s mass immunization program amid a wave of coronavirus cases.
John Bell, a regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and an adviser to the UK Taskforce Vaccine, told the Daily Telegraph: “My prediction is that it will work well, although we have to wait for the results of the study.
He added: “I think they will have supplies available for the UK in a time frame that would only allow them to catch the mid-February target of increasing the number. I think it could have a material impact on what we can do in the UK to vaccinate more people. “
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A Janssen spokesman said it would be premature for the company to comment on its vaccine production until it receives the results of the ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, which are anticipated later this month.
“Janssen will continue to work closely with the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] to complete the ongoing review process for a national application for marketing authorization in the United Kingdom and undertakes to bring to the public an affordable, non-profit COVID-19 vaccine for the use of the emergency pandemic, ”added the carrier. word.
If the data indicate that the vaccine is safe and effective, J&J expects to send an application for emergency use authorization to the US Food and Drug Administration in February.
The British government has ordered 30 million doses of Janssen vaccine, with the option to buy 22 million more. The vaccine candidate is a single dose, unlike those developed by Modern MRNA biotechnology,
and the American drug company Pfizer PFE,
and its German partner BioNTech BNTX,
It can also be stored and transported safely at the standard temperature of the refrigerator, while the Pfizer – BioNTech vaccine requires storage at minus 70C.
If the candidate for the Janssen vaccine is approved by UK regulators, it will become the third vaccine to be launched nationwide after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the one developed by the drug company AstraZeneca AZN,
with the University of Oxford and would help accelerate the public vaccination effort.
More than 1.3 million people in the UK have already received a single shot from either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, according to the government. He wants to vaccinate 13 million of Britain’s most vulnerable people by mid-February, a goal that England’s medical director, Prof. Chris Whitty, called “realistic but not easy”.
Read: The UK becomes the first country to launch the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, as blockades are more imminent
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Wednesday that there is now a race “to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them.”
“Every needle in every arm makes a difference,” Johnson told lawmakers.
Another 1,041 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus since Wednesday, according to government figures.
In an additional attempt to boost the momentum of mass immunization, general practice surgeries will be allowed to administer the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine starting Thursday, the National Health Service said.
Seven vaccination centers will be among many other sites coming online next week, along with several hospitals, family-run services and a range of pilot vaccine services for pharmacies, the NHS added.
Read: Fauci says the United States will not extend the vaccine dose range
Last week, the MHRA, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, and four chief medical officers in the UK agreed to delay the gap between the first and second doses of vaccines, in an attempt to protect as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. time.