A preliminary study published by the South African government on Thursday showed that Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine booster is 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations caused by Omicron variants, a discovery that helps to restore the reputation of the vaccine.
The South African Medical Research Council compared 69,000 healthcare workers who received two doses of the vaccine with a group of unvaccinated people.

This unpeer-reviewed study was conducted from November 15 to December 20, when the highly mutated Omicron variant increased from 82% to 98% of Covid-19 cases in the country.

When the booster was given 6 to 9 months after the first vaccination, the vaccine’s efficacy in hospitalization increased over time, from 63% at 0-13 days to 85% one to two months after the boost.

“Given the increasing dependence of Africa on the Ad26.COV.2 vaccine, these data are important,” the author wrote using the official name of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The result was also praised by the company. In a statement, Johnson & Johnson scientist Mathai Mammen stated that it showed that the vaccine “remains strong and stable over time, including against popular variants such as Omicron and Delta.”

As part of the clinical trial, approximately 500,000 South African health workers received Johnson & Johnson injections.

As the worst-hit country in Africa, South Africa has recorded more than 3.4 million cases and 90,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. A South African study earlier in December found that two doses of Pfizer’s BioNTech vaccine can reduce hospitalization rates by 70%. The results of the three doses of the vaccine are unclear.

The news was released a few weeks after the U.S. officially recommended the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna instead of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine because of the greater risk associated with a rare form of blood clotting.

Preliminary laboratory studies have also shown that compared with mRNA vaccines, Johnson & Johnson vaccine triggers fewer neutralizing antibodies (the Y-shaped protein that prevents infection) against severely mutated Omicron variants, and some people believe that it is more effective in real life. Low also.

The reason it performs better than some people expected in the real world may be that it caused a strong response from another part of the immune system (called cellular immunity).

A small, separate analysis of 65 people at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found that two doses of Pfizer Covid vaccine may provide greater protection than three doses of Pfizer vaccine.

Although antibody levels spiked to high levels after three doses of Pfizer, they also declined within a few weeks, while antibody levels rose steadily after two Pfizer injections and one Johnson & Johnson injection, and reached higher levels four weeks later.

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