• Home
• /
• coronavirus
• /
• Life and Living

New Covid strain: J&J jab effective against variants, says WHO

Geneva - "The vaccine, which can be used on people aged 18 and above, has proven effective," said Alejandro Cravioto.

The WHO’s expert vaccine advisers said on Wednesday they could recommend the Johnson and Johnson jab for use in countries where variants of the new coronavirus are circulating.

Live updates: All the latest Covid-19 developments in the UAE and around the world

The vaccine, which can be used on people aged 18 and above, has proven effective “in the countries where there is a high spread of the variants”, Alejandro Cravioto, the head of the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation, told reporters.

Covax scheme to send out ‘hundreds of millions’ of J&J shots

The Covax vaccine sharing facility has an agreement to send out “hundreds of millions” of J&J shots, Kate O’Brien, director of WHO’s department of immunisation, said.

Covax, backed by WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, aims to secure 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021.

In early March, it said the target was to deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca’s shot to 142 countries by the end of May, and it also shipped its first Pfizer shots.