J&J COVID-19 vaccine shows protection against breakthrough infection for up to six months
pharmafile | January 7, 2022 | News story | Medical Communications |
J&J have announced new results from the largest study to date on the durability of COVID-19 vaccines in the US. These findings demonstrate that a single shot of the J&J vaccine resulted in long-lasting protection for up to six months against COVID-19 breakthrough infections, hospitalisations, and ICU admissions.
The mRNA vaccines (two doses) showed waning effectiveness for hospitalisations and breakthrough infections. All three vaccines showed no evidence of waning protection against COVID-19-related ICU admissions at any point, demonstrating sustained protection against critically severe disease. There was an increase in breakthrough infections starting in month 4, and in month 5+.
“We continue to undertake extensive efforts to study the durability of protection offered by the Johnson & Johnson vaccine amidst the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mathai Mammen, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Johnson & Johnson.
“While these are rapidly evolving data, we are seeing vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19-related hospitalisation of approximately 80 percent from a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and this level of protection holds steady across the length of time studied thus far – up to six months. The robust and sustained durability of our COVID-19 vaccine reflects its unique underlying immunology. We previously reported that our vaccine induces a strong antibody response as well as an especially strong increase in T-cells that is consistent across variants, including Omicron.”
The J&J vaccine has been authorised as a booster by multiple regulators and healthcare bodies around the world, and the company continues to submit relevant data to healthcare regulators such as WHO and the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGS).
Lina Adams
