MHRA approves Janssen's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine

Janssen’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in the UK.

The decision follows the vaccine being granted Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA) by the European Commission, back in March this year.

That decision came after data emerged showing that Janssen’s vaccine was 67% effective in preventing Covid-19 compared to participants who had received a placebo. Protection from Covid-19 was observed after 14 days and then maintained for 28 days following vaccination. Data also show that the vaccine was 85% effective in preventing severe disease and also protection against Covid-19 related hospitalisation and death.

Janssen’s Covid-19 vaccine is able to be stored and distributed using standard vaccine technologies, enabling delivery to remote areas more easily. It’s estimated to remain stable for two years at -25 to -15°C, and a maximum of three months of which can be at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 2°-8°C. 

The UK’s Vaccine Taskforce states it has secured 20 million doses of the vaccine and expects deliveries to start later this year. Originally, the Vaccines Taskforce secured 30 million doses of Janssen’s vaccine last year. However, with the UK’s vaccination programme continuing at good pace, the government says it decided to amend its order to 20 million.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is a further boost to the UK’s hugely successful vaccination programme, which has already saved over 13,000 lives, and means that we now have 4 safe and effective vaccines approved to help protect people from this awful virus.

As Janssen is a single-dose vaccine, it will play an important role in the months to come as we redouble our efforts to encourage everyone to get their jabs and potentially begin a booster programme later this year.”

Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “The Janssen vaccine will be another weapon in our arsenal to beat this pandemic. We are doing everything we can to vaccinate all adults as quickly as possible and I encourage everybody to come forward for a jab as soon as they are eligible.”

The UK has now secured enough access to over over 500 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from companies and organisations including BioNTech/Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen, Novavax, GSK/Sanofi, Valneva and CureVac.