India’s mega vaccination drive to get major boost as first Johnson & Johnson doses likely to arrive in October

September 21, 2021

In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to inoculate the entire population with at least one shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, sources have revealed that India could receive its first doses of the Johnson & Johnson jab from October.
The drug will be packed and shipped in India by a partner of the US pharma major, a source privy to the development told news agency Reuters.
The first shipment could have around 43.5 million doses of the single-shot jab, a big move towards helping India achieve its target of producing more than 30 crore doses in October.
India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. However, in order to meet domestic demands, it had temporarily halted exports in April. Now, New Delhi is set to resume export of the vaccines under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme from October to fulfill its commitment towards COVAX, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said on Monday.
The Drugs Controller General of India had last month given emergency use authorisation to the J&J vaccine, imported or locally supplied by the company’s Indian partner Biological E.

However, the central government is yet to sign a supply deal with J&J, according to Reuters.
“J&J doses are expected from next month. Bio E will do the formulation and make 5 ml vials,” the source said.
A J&J India spokesperson said “it was premature for us to speculate on the timing of our vaccine deliveries”.