South African study shows high COVID protection from J&J shooting

JOHANNESBURG, Aug.6 (Reuters) – The COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) is working well in South Africa, providing protection against serious illness and death, the co-head of a test in the country.

The J&J vaccine was given to health workers from mid-February in a research study, which ended in May, with 477,234 health workers vaccinated, joint lead researcher Glenda Gray said during a press conference.

The South African health regulator approved the J&J vaccine in April, and it is being used in the national immunization program alongside that of Pfizer (PFE.N).

Gray said the single-injection J&J vaccine offered 91% to 96.2% protection against death, while providing 67% efficacy against infection when the beta coronavirus variant dominates and around 71% when the Delta variant dominates.

“After receiving the vaccine, there were very few deaths in the vaccinated group compared to the control group and showing remarkable protection of up to 96.2% against death,” Gray said.

“This was our primary endpoint and we can say that this vaccine protected health workers from death,” she added.

South Africa’s vaccination campaign got off to a shaky start in February after the government suspended AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccinations due to a small trial showing the vaccine offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the beta variant, which was dominant in the country at the time.

Vaccinations have since intensified, with more than 8.3 million people vaccinated as of Thursday.

New health minister Joe Phaahla said at the same briefing that the government plans to start using other vaccines approved by the regulator, including the Sinovac vaccine.

“It has been approved… also that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has now been shown to be effective against the Delta variant, that we should also consider putting it back into service,” Phaahla said.

Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Jason Neely and Alexander Smith

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.