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Bangladesh okays Janssen Covid vaccine


Published : 15 Jun 2021 09:53 PM | Updated : 16 Jun 2021 01:08 AM

A government committee on Tuesday approved Belgium's 'Janssen' vaccine against Covid-19 for emergency use in Bangladesh. 

The drug administration said this is the sixth vaccine that received such approval in Bangladesh.

The government is exploring all options to vaccinate about 14 crore people. 

The Serum Institute of India's Covishield got the first approval on January 7 followed by Russia's Sputnik V, China's Sinopharm, Pfizer and China's China's another vaccine Sinovac.

The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation has issued Interim recommendations for the use of the Janssen vaccine against COVID-19.

It has thoroughly assessed the data on quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and has recommended its use for people aged 18 and above.

This vaccine has also undergone review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found to be safe for use.

The vaccine has been tested against a variety of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants, including B1.351 (first identified in South Africa) and P.2 (first identified in Brazil), and found to be effective.

It is not clear whether it works against the Indian variant which is now known as the 'delta variant'.

 The vaccine is made by the Janssen-Cilag International NV, Belgium.

One dose gives the immunity against the pandemic coronavirus, according to the company.