Pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson on Thursday submitted an application for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine with US health authorities, the company said in a statement.

J&J subsidiary Janssen Biotech "has submitted an application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its investigational single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate," the statement read.

The process could take several weeks, but at the end of it the J&J vaccine would be the third authorized in the United States, after those of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

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