Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

Canada Approves Johnson & Johnson Covid Vaccine

Canada Approves Johnson & Johnson Covid Vaccine

It is the first single-dose Covid-19 vaccine to be authorized in the country, and has been cleared for use by people over 18 years of age.

Canada on Friday authorized a fourth Covid-19 vaccine, adding Johnson & Johnson to its approved list alongside AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots.

Produced by the US pharmaceutical giant's subsidiary Janssen, it is the first single-dose Covid-19 vaccine to be authorized in this country, and has been cleared for use by people over 18 years of age.

The United States greenlit its use February 27 while the European Medicines Agency is set to decide whether or not to permit its use in the European Union next week.

At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Pfizer was moving up deliveries of its vaccine that will increase from six million to eight million the total number of doses delivered in March.

"To people watching at home right now who are looking forward to getting their shot, your turn is coming. Millions of doses are on the way. Deliveries have been ramping up and they'll ramp up even more in April," he told a news conference.

Ottawa has ordered up to 38 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which can be stored at refrigerated temperatures from two to eight degrees Celsius (35-46 Fahrenheit), making distribution easier than some others.

While the J&J vaccine is not as protective as Moderna and Pfizer, the comparisons are not quite like-for-like, because those trials reported results before newer, more transmissible mutations of the virus became dominant in some parts of the world.

"We concluded that there was strong evidence that showed that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the potential risk," Health Canada chief medical officer Supriya Sharma said, adding that its evaluation will continue as it is rolled out.

"The thing that has sort of threatened us the most about Covid-19 is its ability to kill. All of the vaccines, for all intents and purposes, quash that," she added.

Vaccine rollout gets jolt


Heddging bets, Ottawa has ordered or reserved a total of more than 400 million doses of vaccine from seven suppliers for a population of 38 million.

This is "the best portfolio of vaccines of any country in the world, with more doses per capita than any other country," Trudeau has said previously.

Yet Canada ranks behind dozens of countries in vaccination rates, its push to inoculate citizens having stalled in February over supply disruptions.

The prime minister pledged that all Canadians would be inoculated by September, but so far only about four percent have received at least one shot.

And pressure has been mounting on his minority Liberal government to get it back on track.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said 36.5 million doses from the four suppliers approved so far would be delivered by the end of June, rising to 117.9 million by the end of September.

Health officials are expected to also announce in the coming weeks a decision on Novovax's vaccine candidate -- the only other pharmaceutical firm to have submitted an application for approval to date.

Only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in youths 16 years or older. Officials said clinical trials in younger children are underway or planned for several of the vaccine candidates.

As of Friday, Canada has reported more than 878,000 cases of the coronavirus and over 22,000 fatalities.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
×