Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & JohnsoniStock

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday granted an emergency use listing for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, The Associated Press reports.

The approval means the one-dose shot can now theoretically be used as part of the international COVAX effort to distribute vaccines globally, including to poor countries without any supplies.

In a statement, the UN health agency said "the ample data from large clinical trials" shows the J&J vaccine is effective in adult populations.

The emergency use listing comes a day after the European Medicines Agency recommended the shot be given the green light across the 27-country European Union.

"As new vaccines become available, we must ensure they become part of the global solution and not another reason some countries and people are left further behind," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a Friday press briefing, according to AP.

The WHO has previously signed off on COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.

The US Food and Drug Administration cleared the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in late February.

That authorization came several days after the FDA announced that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has met the requirements for emergency use.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)