US regulators have formally approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, the third jab to be authorised in the country.

The vaccine is set to be a cost-effective alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer.

Trials found it prevented serious illness but was 66% effective overall when moderate cases were included.

The vaccine is made by the Belgian firm Janssen.

The company has agreed to provide the US with 100 million doses by the end of June. The first doses could be available to the US public as early as next week.

The UK, EU and Canada have also ordered doses, and 500 million doses have also been ordered through the Covax scheme to supply poorer nations.

President Joe Biden hailed it as "exciting news for all Americans, and an encouraging development", but warned that the "fight is far from over".

"Though we celebrate today's news, I urge all Americans - keep washing your hands, stay socially distanced, and keep wearing masks," he said in a statement.

"As I have said many times, things are still likely to get worse again as new variants spread, and the current improvement could reverse."

The authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came after an external committee of experts unanimously backed the vaccine on Friday.

Results from trials conducted in the US, South Africa and Brazil showed it was more than 85% effective at preventing serious illness, and 66% effective overall when moderate cases were included.

Notably, there were no deaths among participants who had received the vaccine and no hospital admissions after 28 days post-vaccine.

Overall protection was lower in South Africa and Brazil, where virus variants have become dominant, but defence against severe or critical illness was "similarly high".

South Africa began administering the unapproved Johnson & Johnson jab to healthcare workers as part of a study earlier this month. It came after early trials suggested the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine offered "minimal protection" against mild disease from the variant dominant in large parts of the country.

So far the only other country to approve the vaccine for emergency use is Bahrain, which gave it the green light on Thursday.

Because the vaccine will require fewer doses than its two-shot Pfizer and Moderna counterparts, it will also require fewer vaccine appointments and medical staff.

Who else has ordered the Johnson & Johnson jab?

UK - 30 million doses

EU - 200 million doses

Canada - 38 million doses

Covax nations - 500 million doses

Relations between China and Mongolia have entered into fast-track in recent years with fruitful results gained through practical cooperation, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday.

Wang made the remarks in a telephone conversation with the newly-appointed Mongolian Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg.

China attaches great importance to the friendly neighborship with Mongolia, and always puts this relation at a specially significant place in China's neighborhood diplomacy, he noted.

This year is historically meaningful for both China and Mongolia as people of each country will respectively greet the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China and Mongolian People's Party, Wang said.

Both sides should jointly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, promoting greater development of the China-Mongolia comprehensive strategic partnership and bringing about more benefits to both peoples, he added.

In the face of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, governments and peoples of China and Mongolia have shared the weal and woe, and reached out to each other with assistance and support, lifting the bilateral ties to a new level, Wang said.

Noting that the touching story of Mongolia donating 30,000 sheep to China is widely known in both countries and the vaccines sent by China has arrived recently in Mongolia, Wang said he expects the two sides can further strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation until the pandemic is completely defeated.

Economic and trade cooperation is an important support for China-Mongolia relations, Wang said, adding that the two sides need to speed up the synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Development Road Initiative of Mongolia, expand the areas and upgrade the level of cooperation so as to compensate for the losses caused by the pandemic as soon as possible.

For her part, Battsetseg thanked China for its selfless help to her country in fighting the pandemic, saying that the two countries have maintained the development momentum of bilateral ties and continuously strengthened practical cooperation amid the pandemic, setting a good example of how countries support each other in response to adversities.

The new Mongolian administration attaches great importance to developing the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, hoping to enhance political mutual trust, deepen BRI cooperation and push for sustained rapid development of their bilateral ties, she said. Enditem

Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen people have been killed in home fires in Mongolia since the beginning of the year, local media reported Thursday, citing a government agency

Eight of those killed in the fires were children, said Bor Dulamsuren, public relations officer at the National Emergency Management Agency.

Leaving children at home unattended, negligence and electrical short-circuits were the main causes of the fires, Dulamsuren said, urging citizens to prevent possible fires in their own homes. Enditem

Production had begun at ATO in April 2020 and the resource will be used for an upcoming feasibility study, looking to more than double output from about 60,000oz to 150,000oz a year.

"This dramatic increase in the ATO resource further underpins the long life attributes of the project," president and CEO Bataa Tumur-Ochir said.

The updated resource comprises a measured and indicated 1.39Moz gold and 20.48Moz silver, or 2.24Moz Au-eq, and an inferred 208,000oz Au-eq.

The boost was mainly due to drilling at the ATO 4 deposit and the initial resource for the Mungu deposit.

Tumur-Ochir said the update supported the phase two expansion project and showed ample resources for a 2.5 million tonne per annum fresh ore development.

"The bankable feasibility study remains on schedule to be released Q2 2021 and we are optimistic that this study will bear out a robust economic result and a further 10 plus years of production at 150,000oz Au-eq with a focus on the fresh rock ores," he said.

ATO had produced 25,731oz of gold and 11,494oz of silver in the six months to September 30.

Executive chairman Matthew Wood said Steppe planned to ramp up exploration this year and had an internal target of 3-5Moz across its licences.

Steppe is planning a secondary listing on the Mongolian Stock Exchange, with proceeds of a proposed placement expected to be used for the phase two expansion.

Its Toronto-listed shares (TSX: STGO) have ranged between C63c-$3.14 over the past year and closed up 3.3% yesterday to $2.48, valuing it at $156 million (US$125 million).

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has recently announced its ‘TOP-30’ 3x3 team ranking for 2021, in which three Mongolian teams ‘Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy,’ ‘Sansar MMC Energy’ and ‘Zaisan MMC Energy’ were included.

Earlier the TOP-30 included ‘Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy’ and ‘Sansar MMC Energy’, this time the Mongolian team ‘Zaisan MMC Energy’ was added to it as it takes 28th place.

The ranking was topped by Serbia with its five teams in the TOP-30, followed by Mongolia and Russia, each has three teams in the ranking.

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ According to the Ministry of Health, 46 people were confirmed with coronavirus through PCR testing conducted nationwide in the last 24 hours.

These cases were all reported in Ulaanbaatar city. 21 infection cases were detected from close contacts of the confirmed cases in the clusters while one person was diagnosed positive when tested within the “One door-one test” campaign.

Mongolia now has 2,801 registered cases of COVID-19. 27 people have recovered in the last 24 hours and discharged from hospital, bringing the number of recovered people at 2,097. In other words, 74.8 percent of total cases have been recovered.

Furthermore, senior specialist of the Ministry of Health D.Narangerel provided information on the progress of the vaccination against the coronavirus.

"Two days have been passed since the launching of vaccination in Mongolia. We planned to involve 14,092 people of 16 target organizations in the first place. And 22 percent of them or 3,112 people have been involved in the vaccination so far."

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Today, February 25, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene together with five Cabinet Ministers held a meeting with representatives of tourism industry, discussing pressing issues and exchanged views on how to resume operations of the sector.

During the meeting, representatives put proposals to the Cabinet Head to announce the definite period when the country’s border will be re-opened as well as to renew regulations to be adhered to operations. In response, PM L.Oyun-Erdene said “The issue related to re-opening of the country’s border from May 1 will be studied and discussed at the Cabinet meeting next week. The decision will depend on how well the citizens will adhere to infection protection regime and get vaccinated. We planned to vaccinate over 50 percent of entire population in a very short period of time. As the situation is unpredictable, I cannot give a promise, but the Government will do its best for it."

At the meeting, representatives of entities and associations operating in the industry expressed their positions and presented the situation created by the pandemic.

President of the Mongolian Restaurant Association M.Yesunmunkh said “The tourism industry brought income of MNT 1.6 trillion or USD 607 million to Mongolia in 2019. It makes up 7.2 percent of gross domestic product. The figure stands at 30-35 percent in countries where tourism has developed. Mongolia welcomed 577 thousand tourists in 2019. While the industry’s income went down by 65.8 percent in 2020. A total of 2,300 entities are operating in tourism sector and 88,700 people or 6.7 percent of Mongolia’s total work force are employed in the sector.”

Board Member of the Mongolian Tourism Association B.Barsbold said that 570 tour operator companies ran their operations in 2019, earning USD 240 million of income. Unfortunately, 98 percent of the sector’s operation halted in 2018 due to the pandemic, leading 49 percent of total workers to be unemployed. Workplace for the rest is at risk as well. To revive the tourism sector there are necessities to re-open the country's border in the nearest future, provide financial support, increase civil aviation capacity and to give support from the Government on strengthening marketing service and human resource capacity.

At the end of the meeting, PM L.Oyun-Erdene said the Government will render support in five directions, taking into consideration the issues raised at the meeting. These include:

To provide financial support to overcome the difficulties of COVID-19

To make liberalization in air transport sector

To study and resolve the proposal to re-open border from May 1 of this year

To digitize visa service and create legal environment to operate digital consul

To collaborate on implementing integrated marketing at the sectorial level

Russia’s largest independent gas producer, Novatek, has signed a long-term contract with a Chinese partner as it aims to expand its presence in the fast-growing Asian-Pacific region.

The deal with Shenergy Group will see Novatek deliver over three million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to terminals in China over 15 years, Novatek announced on Thursday.

“Our LNG commercial strategy is to diversify our client base and target end consumers in the fast-growing Asian Pacific region,” the head of Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, said in a statement. “The Chinese market is one of the key regions in our LNG marketing strategy, and we plan to further increase our supplies of liquefied natural gas to this country.”

Arctic LNG 2 is Novatek’s second large-scale LNG project in Russia’s Arctic. It includes the construction of three LNG liquefaction trains, which will have a total annual capacity of 19.8 million tons. The project has attracted several foreign investors, including Chinese companies CNOOC and CNPC, France’s Total and a consortium of Japan’s Mitsui and Jogmec, which each have a 10 percent share in the project.

US regulators have found the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective.

It paves the way for it to become the third Covid-19 vaccine to be authorised in the US, possibly within days.

The vaccine would be a cost-effective alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer.

Trials found it prevented serious illness but was 66% effective overall when moderate cases were included.

The company has agreed to provide the US with 100 million doses by the end of June. The UK, EU and Canada have also ordered doses and 500 million doses have also been ordered through the Covax scheme to supply poorer nations.

Will vaccines always work against Covid?

Covid map: Where have the 111m cases been?

What does trial data say?

The briefing document published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives more detail on the data submitted by Janssen, a pharmaceutical branch of Johnson & Johnson, to the regulator. The FDA concludes that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has "known benefits" in reducing both symptomatic and severe illness.

It comes after the firm released data last month.

Results from trials conducted in the US, South Africa and Brazil found its efficacy against the worst outcomes of the virus was "similarly high" but overall protection was lower in South Africa and Brazil, where virus variants have become dominant.

Data showed it was more than 85% effective at preventing serious illness, but only 66% effective overall when moderate cases were included, when considering cases at least 28 days after vaccination.

Notably, there were no deaths among participants who had received the vaccine and no hospital admissions after 28 days post-vaccine.

What happens now?

An external committee of experts will meet on Friday to recommend whether the FDA should authorise the vaccine, possibly adding to a coming surge in vaccine availability in the US.

A White House official said the administration anticipated distributing at least three million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week, should it receive emergency authorisation from the FDA.

The company says it plans to deliver 20 million doses in total by late March, in line with an agreement to supply the US with 100m doses by the end of June.

Not only will the vaccine require fewer doses than its two-shot Pfizer and Moderna counterparts, it will also require fewer vaccine appointments and medical staff as a result.

Who else has ordered the Johnson & Johnson jab?

UK - 30 million doses

EU - 200 million doses

Canada - 38 million doses

Covax nations - 500 million doses

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine appeared safe and effective in trials, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff said in documents published on Wednesday, paving the way for its approval for emergency use.

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The FDA’s panel of independent experts meets on Friday to decide whether to approve the shot. While it is not bound to follow the advice of its experts, the FDA usually does and has authorized vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

J&J said in documents submitted to the FDA that its data suggested its vaccine was effective at preventing asymptomatic infections. It said that in a preliminary analysis of its trial, it found 16 cases of asymptomatic cases in the placebo group versus two in the vaccine group, or an 88% efficacy rate.

While asymptomatic infection was not the primary goal of the trial, which studied the vaccine’s ability to stop moderate to severe COVID-19, the reduction of asymptomatic cases implies the shot can also cut transmission of the disease.

J&J’s vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 against multiple variants in a global trial involving nearly 44,000 people, the company said last month.

Its effectiveness varied from 72% in the United States to 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa, where a new variant has spread, though the vaccine was 85% effective overall in stopping severe cases of the disease.

The vaccine was effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19 and preventing PCR-test confirmed COVID-19 at least 14 days after vaccination, the FDA said in its briefing documents.

Fourteen days after injection, only two vaccine recipients developed COVID-19 severe enough to need medical intervention, compared with 14 in the placebo group. After 28 days, no vaccine recipients developed COVID severe enough to require medical intervention whereas seven in the placebo group did.

Three vaccine recipients had severe side effects in the trial that were likely related to the vaccine, but the FDA said its analysis did not raise any specific safety concerns that would preclude issuance of an emergency use authorization.

The FDA said the most common solicited adverse reactions were injection site pain at 48.6%, headache at 39%, fatigue at 38.2% and myalgia at 33.2%. Other side effects included a fever in 9% of participants and a high fever in 0.2% of those who received the vaccine.

The regulator said one case of pericarditis, a heart disease, may have been caused by the vaccine. It said cases of a rare disorder, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, were unlikely to be related to the shot though data was insufficient to determine whether or not the vaccine had caused these side effects.

J&J had not previously released details of its clinical trial data beyond efficacy rates.

Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Mike Erman, Caroline Humer and Rebecca Spalding; Editing by Bernard Orr and David Clarke