Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the move would strengthen the fight against the pandemic in India, where at least 200,000 people were killed in a brutal two-month-long wave that lasted until mid-June.
“India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-dose vaccine approved for emergency use in India,” the minister announced on Twitter.
No indication was given of when these doses would be shipped to India, a country of 1.3 billion people, which has already given 500 million doses.
However, only 8% of the population received two injections.
India is one of the worst-hit countries by the pandemic, with over 32 million confirmed cases and 427,000 deaths.
But keeping in mind that not all cases are declared, experts estimate the number to be much higher.
In addition, he warned about the dangers of a slow vaccination rate, which puts India at risk for a new wave of infections.
The number of new cases and deaths has started rising in the past two weeks.
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