Providing a final clearance for the vaccine a day after it was authorized by U.S. regulators, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 12-0 to recommend the vaccine from J&J as appropriate for Americans 18 and older

China has given conditional approval for a single dose COVID-19 vaccine, touted to be a rival to Johnson & Johnson's one-jab shot cleared by the US drug regulator

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to quickly follow the recommendation and make J&J's shot the third vaccine authorised for emergency use in the US

The real-world study involved around 1.2 million people in Israel. Pfizer vaccine has also proved to be effective against B.1.1.7 variant, also known as the UK variant of coronavirus

Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer's top viral vaccine scientists, said in an interview that he believes the current vaccine is highly likely to still protect against the concerning variant first discovered in South Africa

Pfizer and BioNTech said they were doing similar lab work to understand whether their vaccine is effective against another variant first found in Brazil

Saying that vaccination is necessary to fight the pandemic, Guleria urged people to not be afraid of the vaccine as it is totally safe.

The vaccines currently approved for emergency use in India are Covishield, from the Oxford-AstraZeneca stable manufactured by Pune's Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology (NIV)

COVID-19 vaccine: The AstraZeneca-Oxford product is a viral vectored vaccine called ChAdOx1-S [recombinant], which is being produced at several manufacturing sites, as well as in the Republic of Korea and India

South Korea had said it would complete vaccinations on 1.3 million people by the first quarter of this year with AstraZeneca shots, but it slashed the target sharply to 750,000

The announcement comes after a government panel on Friday confirmed that final results of clinical testing done in Japan showed that the vaccine had an efficacy similar to what overseas tests showed

WHO highlighted the need to reduce virus circulation and prevent infections so that it reduces the opportunities for coronavirus to mutate further.

The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, noted that the vaccine is effective against coronavirus variants carrying the N501Y and E484K mutations

Coronavirus vaccine: Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford told BBC that the researchers have already started working on the first part of the manufacturing process

Prior to widespread circulation of the more contagious variant, the vaccine was showing efficacy of around 75%, researchers said

The British researchers behind the trial said data on vaccinating people with the two different types of coronavirus vaccines could help understanding of whether shots can be rolled out with greater flexibility around the world

Vaccines are not yet approved for children, but testing already is underway for those as young as 12

Serum expected a decision on an Indian trial of Novavax's vaccine soon, Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said, hours after the US company reported the efficacy data

The European Medicines Agency is expected to give its long-awaited approval to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday

The European Medicines Agency is expected to give its long-awaited approval to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday