DGDA Approves Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine for Emergency Use

Amid growing demand for Covid-19 vaccines, Bangladesh’s drug authorities have approved the emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, owned by US-based multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA)  approved the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Janssen vaccine on Tuesday afternoon, according to a press release issued by DGDA chief Maj Gen Mahbubur Rahman.

The development comes a day after Health Minister Zahid Maleque announced that the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign, which stalled due to a suspension of supply back in April, would resume on June 19.

The approval for the Janssen vaccine came after the DGDA scrutinized the documents related to the vaccine’s clinical trial, CMC part, regulatory status, and also after receiving recommendations from a public health emergency panel that examined the efficacy of the vaccine.

This is the first single-dose vaccine to get approval for emergency use in the country. Other than this, five more vaccines — all double-dose ones — have so far been cleared by the DGDA for use in Bangladesh.

Source: newstesla