Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine approved in India
Coronavirus vaccination drive is underway in full swing and millions of people have already received their jabs. Amid growing numbers of Delta variant cases, it has become the need of the hour and vaccine hesitancy continues to put us at greater risk of infection.
Since vaccine shortage has remained a major challenge in India, many international vaccines have been approved in India in recent times. That said, Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has received emergency use approval (EUA) in India, as per Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
In a tweet, he had said, "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."
J & J's COVID vaccine is the fifth vaccine to receive Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in India
Apart from Johnson and Johnson's COVID vaccine, four vaccines have already been given Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in India. Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Russia-made Sputnik V, and the United States' Moderna.
As per reports, India has currently administered over 50 crore vaccine doses up until now, with over 49.55 lakh vaccinations in the last 24 hours.
While the numbers are high, there are many who are yet to receive their vaccine shot due to shortage or vaccine-hesitancy.
How does it compare with other vaccines?
As of now, Johnson and Johnson's COVID vaccine is the only single shot vaccine available, which is why it is considered to be a possible game changer. Unlike other COVID vaccines which are to be administered in two doses, it is a single-dose vaccine shot, which makes it quite special and different from other vaccines.
Earlier clinical trials found that one dose of J & J's vaccine produced a strong immune response in most people. This in turn led to the single-dose vaccine regimen. Comparatively, other US-manufactured vaccines like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines produced a lower immune response after one dose, which is why there appeared the need for a second dose.
What makes the single-dose vaccine so different?
The Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is a viral vector vaccine.
Viral Vector vaccines use another virus to generate antibodies to fight deadly pathogens i.e. it triggers an immune response by using a modified version of a different virus, known as a vector. For coronavirus, the J & J team took an adenovirus, a type of common cold virus, which when injected into someone’s arm, attaches itself to the cells that read the genetic instructions needed to make the SARs-COV-2 spike protein.
Following the production of spike protein, the immune system detects these invaders and creates antibodies.
Pfizer and Moderna on the other hand have been developed through Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. The mRNA vaccines trigger an immune response by activating cells to fight the deadly pathogens. In terms of coronavirus, this type of vaccine instructs the cells to make a protein or a piece of coronavirus spike protein that produces an immune response in the body. This in turn creates antibodies needed to battle the deadly SARs-COV-2 virus.
Is Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine effective?
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which is the COVID vaccine branch of Johnson & Johnson, had received emergency use authorization in the US in February last year.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) looked into the results of the clinical trials involving more than 40,000 and reached the conclusion that the developed vaccine could provide protection against mild to moderate and severe to critical cases of COVID-19. It found that it was 72% effective at preventing all forms of SARs-COV-2 virus and 86% effective at preventing severe cases of the disease.
Although people who have received J & J COVID vaccine can still contract the illness, they are less likely to develop severe infection and need hospitalisation.
How long will the protection from the vaccine last?
While COVID vaccines are said to be effective, there is no solid evidence to indicate how long the vaccines can keep us protected from the virus.
However, previous clinical trials have suggested that a single dose of the vaccine produced a strong immune response in most people. Reports suggest that even after 71 days after vaccine administration, the antibody level was stable and had increased.
Although J & J's vaccine has proven effective up until now, a booster shot may be needed in the future.