Johnson and Johnson's single dose coronavirus vaccine approved in India

New Delhi : India has got its 5th coronavirus vaccine as the government approved Johnson and Johnson's single dose vaccine for emergency use. Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, "India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India. Now India has 5 EUA vaccines. This will further boost our nation’s collective fight against."

"We are pleased to announce that on 7th August 2021, the Government of India issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-dose vaccine in India, to prevent COVID in individuals 18 years of age and older," a Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said.

It must be noted that the company had applied for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) on Friday and it was given approval on the same day. With this, five vaccines—Serum Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Russia’s Sputnik V, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have been granted Emergency Use Authorisation in India.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has surpassed 50 crore with more than 43.29 lakh doses given on Friday. “India soars high on COVID19 vaccination, historic record of 50 crore doses administered to date!” Health Minister Mandaviya said in a tweet.