Portugal to continue using Janssen vaccines

Lisbon, July 16 Portugal's National Authority for Medicines and Health Products (Infarmed) announced that it has decided to continue using the Covid-19 vaccines from the Janssen Laboratory after a reassessment, saying they met the European Union (EU) specifications.

On Wednesday, Infarmed had said that it was investigating the quality of Janssen vaccines as users had passed out after being vaccinated.

"Tests were carried out on the physical-chemical characteristics of the vaccine. The conformity of all batches that are in the distribution circuit, in accordance with the approved specifications, has been proven," Xinhua news agency quoted the Authority as saying in an updates statement late Thursday.

"No quality defects were detected" in these vaccines, said the national drug regulator, noting that about 20,000 doses were administered in the vaccination centres, "and no more cases of adverse reactions have been reported".

The Janssen jab, "like the other vaccines against Covid-19 authorized in the EU, are safe and effective", according to Infarmed.

"Anxiety-related reactions, including vasovagal reaction (syncope), hyperventilation or stress-related reactions, may occur in association with vaccination, as a psychogenic response to needle injection," warned the national regulator.

The country surpassed the mark of 10 million doses and is accelerating vaccination amid the raging Delta variant which has been already predominant in the country.

Portugal has so far registered 920,200 cases with 17,187 deaths, according to the Directorate-General for Health.