Belgian-based company Janssen Pharmaceutica, owned by US-based Johnson & Johnson, submitted its vaccine against the new coronavirus (Covid-19) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval on Tuesday.
The agency has confirmed it could make a decision on the vaccine, which requires just one dosis, by the middle of March.
EMA has received an application for conditional marketing authorisation for #COVID19 Vaccine Janssen: ?https://t.co/vBZXDaINdN pic.twitter.com/PBFxayMMkL
— EU Medicines Agency (@EMA_News) February 16, 2021
Belgium has ordered 5 million doses of this particular vaccine, which plays a pivotal role in its vaccination strategy.
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Following several trials, the efficacy rate is 66%, which is considerably lower than that of other already approved vaccines including the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which offer about 90% protection.
Instead of using RNA technology, it is a vector-based vaccine, meaning it introduces the coronavirus S protein DNA into the body based on a cold virus, causing the body to produce antibodies against the protein and eventually the virus.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
