Vials of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been approved for emergency use in Vietnam - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – The Ministry of Health on July 15 conditionally approved Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the sixth Covid-19 vaccine to be endorsed in Vietnam.

Johnson & Johnson Vietnam Co., Ltd proposed the vaccine for approval earlier this month, providing data on its safety, quality and effectiveness, the local media reported.

The Janssen vaccine requires only one shot and can be stored in normal refrigerators at 2.2-7.7 degrees Celsius. The global clinical trial of the vaccine with 44,000 volunteers showed that it is 66% effective.

It was approved by the World Health Organization on March 12 and has been used in 24 countries and territories. It has also been distributed through the Covax Facility.

The ministry asked the Drug Administration of Vietnam to license the import of the vaccine and manage the import and quality of the vaccine in line with the law.

Meanwhile, the Administration of Science Technology and Training will choose eligible units to assess the vaccine's safety and efficacy based on the consultancy of the advisory council on the use of vaccines and biologicals.

The ministry also assigned the General Department of Preventive Medicine to conduct the Covid-19 vaccination using Janssen and the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Biologicals to review and grant certificates for batches of the Janssen vaccine before use.

Vietnam had earlier approved five other Covid-19 vaccines: AstraZeneca, Sputnik-V, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Vero-Cell.