New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS): Johnson and Johnson's single-dose vaccine against Covid-19 has got the approval for emergency use in India on Saturday. With J&J single-dose vaccine, India has now a total of 5 Emergency Use Authorization vaccines (EUA) to strengthen the vaccination drive across the nation.

The other four includes Serum Institute's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Russia's Sputnik V and Moderna. This J&J vaccine approval is expected to boost the fight against the coronavirus.

"India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India. Now India has 5 Emergency Use Authorization vaccines. This will further boost our nation's collective fight against COVID-19", said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet.

It will be brought to India through a supply agreement with India's indigenous vaccine maker Biological E Limited.

"We are pleased to announce that on 7th August 2021, the Government of India issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-dose vaccine in India, to prevent COVID in individuals 18 years of age and older," a Johnson & Johnson India spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has achieved a significant milestone of 50 Cr and total vaccination in India stands at 50,10,09,609 so far. The Health Ministry data said that nearly 50 lakh Covid vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hrs.

As India crossed the 50-crore mark on Friday in the number of Covid vaccine doses administered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country's fight against the pandemic has received a "strong impetus".