The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially approved the emergency use of the Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by J&J’s very own pharmaceutical company, Jannsen.

J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine is the third to receive support from the global health advisory body after Pfizer-BioNTech and Astrazeneca.

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It is also the world’s first single-dose vaccine to receive emergency approval from WHO.

“Every new, safe and effective tool against COVID-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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He furthered that the vaccine would now be part of WHO’s COVAX facility, with an agreement to procure at least 500 million doses of J&J’s single-dose vaccine

COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi and WHO and is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to at least 20% of the population of both higher-income and lower-income countries.

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