November 22, 2021 –Johnson & Johnson (the Company) welcomes the decision of EU Member States along with Norway and Iceland (Team Europe) to donate almost 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility. As a practical rapid response to the urgent need to scale up equitable access to vaccines, these doses will be utilized to help protect individuals in lower-income countries.
Supported by the European Commission, Team Europe are providing these doses under an agreement signed recently by the Government of Belgium (acting on behalf of Team Europe), Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and Johnson & Johnson. The agreement will enable doses of the Company’s vaccine to be shipped directly to COVAX for the benefit of low- and middle-income countries through the remainder of this year and into early 2022.
“We welcome the leadership shown by the European Commission and Team Europe in transferring these doses to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in lower income countries and to help address the global vaccine equity challenge,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer. “We will continue to support governments that have doses of our vaccine to share, particularly through the COVAX Facility as we believe that it is an essential mechanism to help combat the pandemic globally.”
At a time when only 4.7 percent[1] of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a global effort is needed to support the WHO’s goals of reaching 40 percent global vaccine coverage by the end of this year, and 70 percent of people everywhere by mid-2022.[2]
Recipient countries are determined by Gavi, who together with Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, will work alongside receiving governments on country readiness and the transfer of these doses. The Company will provide certain supply chain and logistical support to ensure donated vaccines can be delivered to recipient countries as quickly as possible, and we are proud to be working with governments and Gavi to make this happen. First shipments of doses will begin arriving in a number of African countries this week.
The Company has committed to providing its vaccine on a not-for-profit basis globally for emergency pandemic use and is making available up to 500 million doses of its vaccine to the COVAX Facility through 2022. This is in addition to donations by the EU and others of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
About COVAX [3]
COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO – working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, PAHO, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both high-income and lower-income countries.
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Notice to Investors Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This media statement contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding development, manufacture and distribution of our COVID-19 vaccine. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and in the company’s most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.
REFERENCES
[1] Our World in Data, Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations. Last accessed: 16 November 2021
[2] WHO, UN set out steps to meet world COVID vaccination targets. Available at: https://www.who.int/news/item/07-10-2021-who-un-set-out-steps-to-meet-world-covid-vaccination-targets#:~:text=The%20new%20strategy%20outlines%20a,70%25%20by%20mid%2D2022. Last accessed: November 2021
[3] COVAX working for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Available at: https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax. Last accessed: November 2021