Clinical trials showing the single-shot Janssen vaccine as being 66 percent effective at preventing the COVID-19 disease are “very encouraging,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday.
“We have secured 30 million doses, and if approved by our medicines regulator we should expect these to be available later this year,” he wrote on Twitter.
Janssen is a Belgium-based pharmaceutical firm owned by U.S. company Johnson & Johnson.
Like the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, which is already being rolled out across the UK, the Janssen vaccine can be safely stored and transported at standard refrigeration temperatures.
“A one-shot vaccine is considered by the World Health Organization to be the best option in pandemic settings, enhancing access, distribution, and compliance,” said Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson.
“If this jab is approved this could significantly bolster our vaccination programme, especially as a single-dose vaccine,” said Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
It said more than 7.4 million people across the UK have now had at least one dose of a CCP virus vaccine.