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Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine not ruled out for Australia

We learnt earlier today that Australia's medical regulator has granted provisional approval to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine (also known as the Janssen vaccine).

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has given it the green light for use in Australia, subject to certain conditions, which include requiring Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd to provide details about longer-term efficacy and safety from ongoing clinical trials.

It's the third vaccine to get provisional approval, following on from Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

But the federal government hasn't ordered any Johnson & Johnson vaccines (more Pfizer doses are on their way and Moderna will arrive later this year subject to approval) and earlier today a spokesman from the health department all but ruled it out.

"The Janssen vaccine is an adenovirus vaccine, the same type of vaccine as the AstraZeneca vaccine. The government does not intend to purchase any further adenovirus vaccines at this time," he said in a statement.

However late this afternoon the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd indicated there would be further discussions about whether Australia would purchase the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

"Whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will become one of the vaccines utilised in Australia is up for further discussions over the next week or so," he said.