Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it has asked US health regulators to authorise its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, and it will apply to European authorities in coming weeks.

The drugmaker's application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) follows its Jan 29 report in which it said the vaccine had a 66 percent rate of preventing infections in its large global trial.

The FDA said on Thursday evening that it has scheduled a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Feb 26, to discuss...