Spain on Wednesday authorised the launch of late-stage trials of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine candidate, which will also be tested in eight other nations, according to AFP.

The phase 3 trial will be carried out in nine hospitals across Spain involving volunteers both with and without underlying health conditions, the national medicines agency, AEMPS, said in a statement.

Trials of the two-dose vaccine will involve up to 30,000 volunteers in Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Philippines, said the agency.

The agency did not say how many people would take part in Spain, only that the hospitals involved would begin recruiting volunteers “as soon as possible”.