A SINGLE shot vaccine is to be targeted at millennials who might not want to wait for three months for a second dose, it has been reported.
The UK has already secured a deal for 30 million doses of the Janssen jab, made by Johnson & Johnson, which could cover half the population.
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Because the vaccine is single dose, it means people do not need to get another dose in order to be protected against Covid.
Ministers are hoping the Janssen vaccine can be given as a “jab and go” to young adults born around turn of the century, the Telegraph reports.
The hope is the jab will be attractive to young people desperate to start enjoying a summer by the time the vaccine roll-out reaches them.
“Where it will be useful is it could work really well for the younger cohort – the 18 to 29 year olds,” a source told the paper.
“One hit and you are done – and you are off to Ibiza.”
Boris Johnson is set to make four big Covid announcements tomorrow as he lays out England’s next steps out of lockdown, including more on holidays.
Anyone receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine has to have two jabs, 12 weeks apart, before being fully inoculated.
UK medical regulators are now formally assessing the safety of the jab after it was approved for use in the United States.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this year that “if jab is approved this could significantly bolster our vaccination programme, especially as a single-dose vaccine”.
It could also be a more cost-effective jab compared to those made by Pfizer and Moderna because it does not need to be stored in freezing cold temperatures.
The Janssen vaccine also costs as little as £7 per dose, making it cheaper than some of the other vaccines – but about the same as two doses of the Oxford jab.
It comes as it emerged people have died from blood clots after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK though regulators have insisted the jab is safe.
The medicines regulator confirmed that of the 18.1 million people given the vaccine, 30 had gone on to have blood clots and as of 24 March, seven of those had died.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said there is currently no evidence to suggest a causal link between blood clots and the vaccine, and that the benefits continue to outweigh any risk.
Investigations are under way to determine if there is a link or if the cases are a coincidence.
