The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson says it will this week ask US drug regulators to approve booster-shots of its Covid-19 vaccine.

The US Food and Drug Administration last week said it would meet on October 15 to decide whether to give emergency approval for a second dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.

More than 15 million Americans have already received the single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.

The company said in September that a second dose of the vaccine provided significant protection against Covid-19.

Johnson & Johnson-researchers in a US-study found that a supplemental dose of J & J’s vaccine provided 94% protection against mild and severe cases of Covid-19.