Soon after Johnson & Johnson said it has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India, the Government of India on Saturday sanctioned its approval. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya notified of the development on Twitter. With this, India now comprises of 5 Emegency Use Authorized vaccines.
The US-based pharmaceutical company had applied for Emergency Use Authorisation for its jab on Friday and was granted the approval the same day by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
The five vaccines granted Emergency Use Authorisation in India are Serum Institute's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Russia's Sputnik V, Moderna and now Johnson & Johnson.
"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 COVID 19", he tweeted.
Earlier on Monday, the company had said that it remained committed to bringing its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to India and looks forward to ongoing discussions with the Indian government.
"On August 5, 2021 Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd applied for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the government of India," a Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said in a statement.
This is an important milestone that paves the way for bringing the company's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the people of India, and the rest of the world, through a collaboration with Biological E Limited, the statement added.
"Biological E will be an important part of our global supply chain network, helping to supply our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine through the extensive collaborations and partnerships we have with governments, health authorities and organisations such as Gavi and the COVAX Facility," the statement said.
Earlier today, the health minister had said the coronavirus vaccine administration is rapidly increasing in the country every month, with a total of 13.45 crore doses administered in July which also saw a remarkable daily average of 43.41 lakh doses.
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