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* Britain reduces order of J&J shot by 10 million doses
* J&J Janssen shot the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be
approved
* J&J has faced issues with supply, rare blood clots
(Adds reaction, detail of booster trial)
By Alistair Smout
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Britain's medicine regulator on
Friday approved Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19
vaccine for use, with the government adding it had cut its order
for the vaccine by 10 million doses.
The shot is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine approved in Britain,
and the government said it would be available for use later in
2021 without specifying when.
Britain reduced its order to 20 million doses from 30
million as the country's vaccine rollout progresses, while the
company has also warned of uncertainty over its supplies to
Europe.
"This is very welcome news and another boost to our hugely
successful vaccination programme," Prime Minister Boris Johnson
said on Twitter.
Britain has given two-thirds of its adult population a first
COVID-19 shot, and the government cited the "unprecedented scale
and pace" of the rollout as behind the decision to cut its
order.
Britain has also approved vaccines made by Pfizer,
AstraZeneca and Moderna.
"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.
The vaccine is part of a British study looking at whether
giving third-dose booster COVID-19 shots could extend immune
protection.
"The results of this will be important in determining how
supplies of this vaccine can be best utilised when they arrive,"
said Professor Arne Akbar, President of the British Society for
Immunology, adding the approval would not have an immediate
impact on rollout.
J&J's vaccine had already been approved by the World Health
Organization, the United States and the European Union, where
reports of rare blood clots are being reviewed.
The shot uses similar viral vector technology to the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has seen reports of similar
clots.
British officials have advised that under-40s are offered an
alternative to the AstraZeneca shot due to the link to clots,
and guidance on how J&J's shot is used will be issued before
rollout begins later this year.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Michael Holden, Kate
Holton and David Evans)
