Approve Jhonson & Jhonson Vaccines, Canada Use Four Types Of COVID-19 Vaccines

Illustrations. (Sam Moqadam / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Canadian drug regulators on Friday at the local time approved the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as the fourth vaccine used in the country.

In the early stages, Canada is known to have ordered 10 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with the option to order up to 28 million doses in total.

"The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been approved for adults in Canada, after having a percentage effectiveness of 66 percent for preventing moderate and severe disease", said Canadian Health Ministry senior official Supriya Sharma, as reported by Reuters.

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is the first single-dose vaccine approved in Canada and can be stored in a regular refrigerator, while Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna injections must be stored in the freezer.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Pfizer Inc had agreed to speed up deliveries, delivering a total of 3.5 million doses ahead of schedule by the end of May.

Deliveries to Canada have been relatively late compared to many other developed countries, despite ordering more doses per capita than other countries.

"To the people watching at home, who are currently awaiting the injection (of the vaccine), your turn will soon come", said Trudeau.

With a population of nearly 38 million, Canada now expects 36.5 million doses of the previously approved vaccine to be delivered by the end of June. So far, only 4.2 percent of Canada's population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to volunteer-run COVID-19 Tracker Canada.

Before Johnson & Johnson, Canadian regulators allowed Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Inc vaccines in December and AstraZeneca vaccines in February. Each requires two doses of vaccine.