(Adds details)
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Britain's medicine regulator has
approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine for use,
the health ministry said in a statement on Friday, making it the
fourth COVID-19 shot available for use in the country.
Britain also cut its order for the single-dose shot, also
known as J&J unit Janssen's vaccine, amid issues with the
company's supply chain and reports of rare blood clots.
Britain has given two-thirds of the population a first dose
of COVID-19, and the government cited the "unprecedented scale
and pace" of the roll-out as behind the decision to cut its
order to 20 million doses from the original order for 30 million
doses.
"As Janssen is a single-dose vaccine, it will play an
important role in the months to come as we redouble our efforts
to encourage everyone to get their jabs and potentially begin a
booster programme later this year," health minister Matt Hancock
said.
J&J's vaccine is already approved in the United States and
European Union, where reports of rare blood clots are being
reviewed.
The shot uses similar viral vector technology to the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, where similar clots have been
reported.
Britain has advised that under-40s are offered an
alternative to the AstraZeneca shot, and the government
said that vaccine advisers the Joint Committee on Vaccination
and Immunisation (JCVI) would also advise on how J&J's shot was
used.
The government said the shot would be available later in the
year. There have been reports that J&J expects to miss its
delivery targets for the European Union this quarter.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Michael Holden and
Kate Holton)