J&J COVID-19 vaccine less effective against Delta variant, study finds

Johnson & Johnson’s single-injection coronavirus vaccine is much less effective against the Delta variant than against the original version of COVID-19, according to a new study published online Tuesday.

The study, which looked at blood samples in the lab and has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that anyone who has received the J&J vaccine may need to receive a second injection as the variant continues to spread to patients. United States.

“The message we wanted to get across was not that people shouldn’t get the J&J vaccine, but we hope that in the future it will be boosted either with another dose of J&J or with a boost with Pfizer. or Moderna, ”said Nathaniel, head of the study. Landau, a virologist at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, told The New York Times.

Earlier this month, New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson released preliminary data indicating that its vaccine was effective against the Delta variant, first located in India, at least eight months after inoculation.

However, in May, the UK government published a study indicating that a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, similar in structure to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, was only 33% effective against “symptomatic disease” caused by Delta variant, while two doses were 60% effective against symptomatic disease.

J&J spokeswoman Seema Kumar told The Times that the data from the latest study “does not speak to the full nature of immune protection.”

Last month, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Rochelle Walensky, told NBC’s “Today” show that “we have every reason to believe … that the J&J will work well against the Delta variant, as it has done so far against other variants circulating in the United States.

Walensky told lawmakers on Tuesday that the Delta variant currently accounts for 83% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States. During the same hearing, White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci said researchers were still assessing whether booster shots would be needed to provide additional protection.

“We don’t want people to believe that when you talk about boosters it means the vaccines aren’t working,” Fauci said. “They’re very effective, we’re talking about the durability of that.”

Early studies indicate that mRNA vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech are effective against the Delta variant and could provide protection for years, provided the virus does not mutate well beyond its original form.

The Delta variant has been blamed for an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks, though numbers across all categories are still well below the peak of last winter’s outbreak and the overwhelming The majority of hospitalizations and deaths occur among unvaccinated people.

Despite this, health officials in Los Angeles and Las Vegas have reimposed mask warrants in indoor spaces, regardless of an individuals’ vaccination status.