THE HAGUE: The EU's drug watchdog on Monday, November 22, 2021, said it was evaluating an application by Johnson & Johnson for its Covid vaccine booster shot to be used on people aged 18 and over in the bloc.
If approved, the booster will be the third in the 27-nation European Union for adults and will be given at least two months after a first single-shot dose.
"EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) will carry out an accelerated assessment of data submitted by the company that markets the vaccine," the European Medicines Agency said, adding an outcome was "expected within weeks."
The data assessed by the Amsterdam-based EMA will include results from more than 14,000 adults who have received a second dose of the Covid-19 Vaccine Janssen or a placebo, the agency said.
Two other booster shots with vaccines made by Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna have already been approved for use in the EU.
The regulator has also currently approved four vaccines for use: Pfizer and Moderna, which use messenger RNA technology, and AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, which use viral vector technology.