Health Canada Clears Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine

Canada has issued an interim authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, allowing its use for preventing COVID-19 infections in patients age 18 and older.

Health Canada made the decision based on data from a phase 3 trial. The trial, which enrolled 43,783 participants, found the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing severe COVID-19 and protected against hospitalization and death starting 28 days after vaccination.

The single-dose vaccine offers advantages in that it can be shipped in common refrigerator temperatures and stored at the same temperatures for up to three months. Kept at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, it can be stored for up to two years.

J&J said that it expects to fulfill the 10 million doses it’s committed to supplying Canada by the end of the third quarter.