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Summary
- Canada approves single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine for use after the US.
- J&J to supply 38 million doses as thousands of Canadians are yet to get their first shots.
- The J&J stock (NYSE:JNJ) was down 1.5 per cent year-to-date.
The stock of American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was trending on Yahoo and Google on Friday after Canada approved its new single-shot covid vaccine for use.
It is the fourth vaccine to be approved by the government after Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. Canada has been struggling to meet the demands following delivery delays.
J&J stock (NYSE:JNJ) was priced at C$154.36 as of 11:19 am ET on Friday, which was 0.8 per cent up from the previous close. Around 1.96 million J&J shares were traded at the time. The stock was down 1.5 per cent year-to-date but gained 9 per cent over the past 12 months.
The New Jersey-based company has received an order for 38 million doses from the government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set a target of vaccinating all citizens by September 2021.
Unlike the previous vaccines, the J&J drug requires just a single shot.
Last Month, the Biden administration had ordered 100 million doses from J&J after it received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Pic Credit: Pixabay.
Covid Impact In Canada
The covid virus has killed more than 22,000 people in Canada. In parts of Europe, North America, and Africa, a new variant of the virus had surfaced in mid-January but was largely brought under control. Still, some 4,000 people had died from the covid mutant this year.
The opposition has been mounting pressure on the Trudeau government to expedite vaccine distribution to prevent further casualties. Vaccine delays have been the biggest challenge for the government as it tries to reach out to more people for covid shots.
A large part of the population is still waiting for their first doses. According to an estimate, Canada gave 5.7 doses per 100 people, while the US and UK administered 24.9 and 32.9 doses for the same number of people, respectively. The pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first to be approved by Canada, followed by Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Johnson & Johnson has a market cap of $405 billion.
