UK Authorizes Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has received conditional authorization from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the fourth shot against the coronavirus to be authorized in the UK.

The agency previously authorized the AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna vaccines but the J&J shot, which can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures, is expected to ease distribution challenges.

In a global phase 3 study, the J&J vaccine showed overall efficacy of 66 percent and offered 100 percent protection against coronavirus-related hospitalizations and death.