Sign in/Register
Looking for the Professionals/Advertiser Login?
By Signing up you are agreeing with our Terms and Privacy Policy.Forgot your password?
Feedback is welcome
A SINGLE-DOSE vaccine against Covid-19 created by Janssen will be in use throughout the European Union from April 19, and Spain is set to get enough for 40 million jabs.
Janssen itself has confirmed this, and the European Commission has signed a contract to purchase 400 million doses, of which Spain will have 10%.
Unlike the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Janssen version only needs to be administered once, with no second or booster dose a few weeks later, and it can be kept in an ordinary refrigerator rather than needing to be stored at exceptionally-cold temperatures requiring special freezer units.
Janssen says its inoculation is suitable for use in humans of any age, including pregnant women and breast-feeding mums, and that the side-effects from it are 'very mild' – unlike the AstraZeneca injection where many of those who have had it have related intense headaches, hangover-like symptoms and, according to a daily newspaper in the province of Alicante, over 1,000 school teachers are allegedly off sick due to the side-effects of the AstraZeneca jab.
This, also known as the 'Oxford vaccine', is now back in use in most countries after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed the risk of thrombosis is extremely small, but those due to receive it have been warned to seek immediate medical attention if they suffer severe headaches, shortness of breath, limb swelling or pain.
The Janssen vaccine will be the fourth in use in Europe, and the first delivery will be for 50% of the order, or 200 million, by the end of 2021, always with 10% going to Spain as distribution by member State is in accordance with population size and incidence of contagion.
The European Commission says it will be monitoring the situation to ensure it does not run into the same 'delivery issues' it experienced with AstraZeneca.
Between April and June inclusive, a total of 5.5 million doses of the Janssen injection will arrive in Spain, according to the national government, which is still working on the EU-wide goal of having 70% of the population vaccinated by summer.
By then, it is expected two other vaccines against Covid-19 – the Novavax and CureVac – will have been signed off by the EMA.
Luis Díaz Rubio, chairman of Janssen Spain and Portugal, assures that with the arrival of the fourth inoculation, “within a few months, we will see a very different situation to the one we have right now.”
He says the 70% target 'can and will be met' and that the number of immunised people will 'rise very sharply' between mid-April and summer.
Spain's tourism minister Reyes Maroto says she hopes travel will restart and 'restrictions reduced' by the second week in April, and that the Janssen inoculation will lead to 'vaccination on a scale that will allow us to prepare for safe holidays again'.
She has urged everyone to be 'cautious', but hopes for an 'optimistic summer'.
Health minister Carolina Darias also says that from around now, another delivery of vaccines will start to arrive from Pfizer and Moderna.
Spain's regional health authorities will 'have a million more doses', says Sra Darias, and they are now 'preparing themselves to be able to administer all the vaccines that arrive from April'.
VACCINE certificates or 'Covid passports' recognised throughout the European Union for travel can now be obtained from each and every regional health authority website, or in some cases, with a mobile phone App.