The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has termed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as effective against severe cases of COVID-19, AFP reported. It’s also effective against coronavirus variants, including those first found in South Africa and Brazil, new documents released by the FDA showed. 

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In large clinical trials, the vaccine’s efficacy was 85.9% against severe COVID-19 cases in the US, 81.7% in South Africa, and 87.6% in Brazil.

An independent panel of the FDA will meet on Friday to discuss its merits, which could be followed by approval for the emergency use of the jab.

The United States, which started its mass vaccination drive against coronavirus in December, has already approved two vaccines — those developed by Pfizer and Moderna. 

“The vaccine was effective in preventing COVID-19 using a less restrictive definition of the disease and for more severe disease, including COVID-19 requiring medical intervention, considering all cases starting 14 days after vaccination,” the FDA said in new documents, ANI reported. 

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a common-cold-causing adenovirus, which has been modified so that it can’t replicate, to carry the gene for a key protein of the coronavirus into human cells.

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This makes those cells produce that protein, which in turn trains the human immune system.