The single-shot Covid vaccines were damaged at a plant in Baltimore, America, belonging to Emergent Biosolutions – one of the companies that Johnson & Johnson is using to speed up manufacturing. The drugmaker had identified an issue with an ingredient used in the Covid vaccine, meaning it “can’t be used”. Workers at the plant – where Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Covid vaccines are produced – were said to have made a “human error”.
At present, the UK has ordered 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
If the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approves the vaccine, it will be distributed around the UK.
In a 44,000-person trial, the vaccine was found to be 66 percent effective at preventing moderate-to-severe Covid four weeks after inoculation, said Sky News.
Side effects – as with any vaccine – are to be expected, and may include:
- Pain at the injection site
- Tiredness
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Nausea
People who should have been offered the Covid vaccine already:
- Frontline health and social care staff
- Elderly care home residents
- Clinically extremely vulnerable people
- Over-16s with some health conditions which increase their risk from Covid
- Adult carers of disabled people and younger adults in care homes
Over-55s
Those under the age of 50, without underling medical conditions in England, may have to wait till May for their first jab.
They will then be vaccinated in order of age:
- 40-49 years
- 30-39 years
- 18-29 years
A person’s risk of severe disease from Covid is closely linked to age, hence the vaccine schedule in younger adults being rolled-out in the way it is.