EU agency approves J&J’S shot
Bloc gains fourth COVID vaccine to aid slow, troubled effort
LONDON — The European Medicines Agency on Thursday gave the green light to Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine, handing the European Union’s 27 nations a fourth vaccine to try to speed up the bloc’s much-criticized vaccination rollout.
The EU medicines regulator advised that the vaccine be cleared for use in all adults over 18 “after a thorough evaluation” of J&J’S data found the vaccine met the criteria for efficacy, safety and quality.
“With this latest positive opinion, authorities across the European Union will have another option to combat the pandemic and protect the lives and health of their citizens,” said Emer Cooke, EMA’S executive director.
The EMA already had recommended COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-biontech, Moderna and Astrazeneca,
but all of those vaccines require two doses, several weeks apart. And production delays have plagued all three vaccine manufacturers.
In its statement Thursday, the EMA said the J&J vaccine was about 67 percent effective. The most common side effects were pain at the injection site, headache, tiredness, muscle pain and nausea.
The European Commission quickly granted a conditional marketing authorization to the vaccine.
In other developments:
■ Denmark temporarily suspended use of the Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine after reports of blood clots in some people, but its health authority said Thursday it has no evidence the vaccine was responsible. Other experts said that of the millions of Astrazeneca vaccine shots administered elsewhere, including Britain, there have been no reported cases of the vaccine causing blood clots or related problems.
■ A U.N. epidemiologist who denounced the World Health Organization’s withdrawal of a report on Italy’s coronavirus response has resigned, citing the “unsustainable situation” he faced at the agency as a whistleblower. Francesco Zambon said Thursday his resignation was effective March 31. He declined further comment other than to say it was “humanly and professionally” impossible for him to continue on his job.
■ New Zealand is pushing for nations around the world to end tariffs on face masks, syringes and other supplies. New Zealand is making the push as this year’s virtual host of APEC, an economic forum of 21 Asia-pacific countries that includes Japan, China, Canada and the U.S.
■ The United Nations Population Fund said new data indicates that nearly 12 million women in 115 countries lost access to family planning services because of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year.