With Covid-19 vaccinations ramping up in Russia, a representative from pharmaceutical behemoth Johnson & Johnson has disclosed that the firm wants to collaborate with Moscow and reach an agreement to deliver its vaccine.
A spokesperson for Janssen – Johnson & Johnson’s Belgian pharmaceuticals business – told Russian news agency TASS that the firm is dedicated to delivering “global access to a single-component vaccine candidate as part of emergency efforts to combat the pandemic and not for profit.”
Unlike the rest of Covid-19 vaccinations, including Russia’s Sputnik V and the Western Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots, the Johnson & Johnson injection is administered once rather than twice.
“After all essential procedures such as local clinical studies and authorisation, we will engage with all interested partners to provide our single-component candidate coronavirus vaccine to the Russian and CIS markets,” Janssen representative Marea Feinberg stated.
The announcement comes a day after Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko said that many international pharma firms have submitted for Covid-19 vaccine licensing in Russia.
As of now, the only vaccinations approved by Moscow are those manufactured in Russia. The most well-known, Sputnik V, has been registered in over 60 countries worldwide. EpiVacCorona, CoviVac, and Sputnik Light are the others.
Nature, a British science publication, released a new study of Sputnik V on Wednesday, claiming that its great effectiveness has been proved.
According to the report, “evidence from Russia and many other nations now shows it is safe and effective.”
Despite proof of the vaccine’s efficacy, neither the European Medicines Agency (EMA) nor the World Health Organization (WHO) have authorized it.
Both authorities are now reviewing the vaccine. Last month, the WHO issued a report highlighting some minor concerns based on inspections conducted at four pharmaceutical companies. The Kremlin eventually stated that all of the issues had been addressed and resolved.
