Swissmedic, the Swiss health agency, on Monday gave the green light to the vaccine from the American giant Jonhson & Johnson, which becomes the third vaccine against the coronavirus approved in the Alpine country.
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After approving Pfizer / BioNTech's vaccine in December, then Moderna's in January, the Swiss Medicines Agency authorized this third vaccine for people aged 18 and over, she said in a statement.
Manufactured by Janssen-Cilag, a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson laboratory, this vaccine is administered once and can be stored in frozen form at a temperature of -25 ° Celsius to -15 ° C and transported frozen or thawed at a temperature between 2 ° C and 8 ° C.
It will then keep for up to three months in the refrigerator, she recalled.
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Acts in the presence of mutations
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This vaccine based on a human adenovirus is 64.2% effective in those aged 18 to 64 and 82.4% in people aged 65 and over within 14 days after vaccination.
It makes it possible to prevent serious and critical forms of Covid-19 by nearly 85%.
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In addition, it has been proven to work well in the presence of dominant mutations in Brazil and South Africa,
” said Swissmedic in the press release.
This vaccine is the fourth to be approved in the European Union, where it has been licensed since March 11.
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To speed up its vaccination program, Switzerland doubled its order from Pfizer / BioNtech in early March, bringing it to 6 million doses.
For its vaccination program, the Alpine country had chosen five manufacturers, including Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The latter, however, has not yet been approved.
Switzerland had also joined forces with Curevac and Novavax laboratories, but recently specified that it was also in negotiations with other manufacturers.
