Janssen Vaccine Facing Disposal Crisis 'Saved'... FDA Approves 1.5-Month Extension of Shelf Life

On the 10th, when Janssen vaccine administration began for reservists aged 30 and above, a citizen at Kyungseong Clinic in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, received the Janssen vaccine and took a verification photo with a mobile phone.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the expiration date of Janssen's COVID-19 vaccine, which was at risk of being discarded in large quantities.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced on the 10th (local time) that the FDA approved extending the expiration date of the Janssen vaccine from 3 months to 4 and a half months.

J&J stated, "This decision is data-driven, and the vaccine remains stable even after being refrigerated at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for four and a half months."

In the U.S., vaccine administration has recently declined significantly, and there is widespread avoidance of the Janssen vaccine, which was temporarily suspended due to concerns about thrombosis. Because of this, millions of doses of the Janssen vaccine are at risk of being discarded at the end of this month due to expiration.

The Wall Street Journal reported that although 21.4 million doses of the Janssen vaccine were delivered to the U.S. government, only about half have actually been used, causing a significant stir.

With the extension of the vaccine's expiration date, the possibility of additional overseas donations of these vaccines has also opened up.

However, it is not easy to expect an increase in Americans willing to receive the Janssen vaccine even after the expiration date extension.

In the U.S., the focus remains on administering the two-dose mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, but even their vaccination rates are rapidly declining.

The 1.1 million doses of the Janssen vaccine provided by the U.S. to Korea were also set to expire on the 23rd.