- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
AMERICAN pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has applied for an emergency-use approval of its coronavirus vaccine in India, it said on Friday (6), moving a step closer to supplying the first single-dose Covid shot to the country.
In an emailed statement, J&J said the shot will be brought to India through a supply agreement with homegrown vaccine-maker Biological E Ltd, headquartered in Hyderabad, Reuters reported.
The company’s application comes when legal wrangles have held up US vaccine donations to India, which have not met requests for granting foreign manufacturers indemnity from lawsuits.
J&J said it was in talks with the Narendra Modi government to accelerate the availability of its vaccine but did not divulge details.
Health authorities in India have so far approved the use of vaccines developed by AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech, Gamaleya Institute, Russia, and Moderna.
The Indian government and Moderna are still in the process to sort out issues over imports of the vaccine and indemnity, a high-placed official at Indian drugmaker and Moderna’s local distribution partner Cipla on Friday told Reuters in an interview.
So far, 495.3 million from a population of more than 1.3 billion have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Friday, India’s health ministry reports said.
