MoH approves Johnson&Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
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Janssen is the sixth COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved for use in Vietnam, after AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Pfizer, Sinopharm and Moderna. MoH asked the Drug Administration of Vietnam to license the import of the vaccine and abide by regulations on the management of import and the quality of imported vaccines.
The Administration of Science Technology and Training will select and guide qualified units to assess the vaccine's safety and efficacy based on advice from the advisory council on use of vaccines and biologicals.
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| MoH approves Janssen vaccine for emergency use |
The General Department of Preventive Medicine is responsible for conducting vaccination using Janssen. The ministry also assigned the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals to conduct checks and grant certificates for batches of Janssen vaccine before use.
MoH said the approval was based on documents regarding the safety, quality and efficacy of the vaccine as provided by Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) by July 3, as well as the firm’s commitment regarding the accuracy of the documents.
The Janssen vaccine is a viral vaccine which uses a version of an adenoviruses, which causes mild cold or flu symptoms in people. Johnson & Johnson has modified this virus to include DNA that codes for the spike protein on the SARS-CoV-2 virus.This spike protein is one of the virus’ identifying features for immune cells, and what the virus uses to weasel its way into people’s cells.
The adenovirus works its way into people’s cells like a virus normally would, but then injects the genetic material for the spike protein instead. The cells do what they do best, and read that DNA to make copies of the spike protein, which then trigger an immune reaction.
With a single dose, Janssen was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drugs Administration of the United States in 2019 and by the European Union in July 2020.
