Johannesburg, Jan 16 (BUS): The Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 booster vaccine is 85% effective in protecting against hospitalization by an Omicron variant one to two months after receiving it, the head of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) said on Friday.
Glenda Gray presented the findings of the SAMRC study at a South African Ministry of Health briefing on the fourth wave of COVID-19, which was driven by the new variant, Reuters reported.
“We’ve seen the effectiveness of the vaccine at 85% and we’ve seen that this type of vaccine efficacy lasts for up to two months,” she said. “We are very pleased to report very high levels of vaccine efficacy against Omicron.”
The study included 477,234 health care workers, all of whom were vaccinated with the J&J shot, and nearly 236,000 of them — about half — received a booster dose of J&J.
It examined hospitalizations among those healthcare workers who were infected during the fourth wave, and found that the booster vaccine reduced hospitalizations by 63% in the first two weeks after the booster, and rose to 85% thereafter for 1-2 months.
“This is the world’s first evidence of vaccine efficacy (against Omicron) using the J&J vaccine,” Gray said.
The South African authorities have so far maintained a preference for the Pfizer vaccine – they have given out 21 million doses, nearly three times as many as the 7 million doses of the J&J vaccine.
But the J&J syringe is logistically more preferable because it is a single-dose regimen, easy to administer in remote rural areas, where follow-up may be difficult.
The data supported already strong global evidence that Omicron can evade vaccine protection when it comes to primary infections.
Among the study participants, there were about 30,000 penetrating hits during an omicron wave, compared to only about 11,000 in previous waves driven by delta and beta variables.
The study also highlighted that people with HIV were more likely to be hospitalized with Omicron.
“They (who are hospitalized) are more likely to be infected with HIV and less likely to have other comorbidities compared to the beta and delta period,” Gray said.
The prevalence of HIV in South Africa is about 13%.
A separate study by South Africa’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NICD) indicated Friday that Omicron may be a cause of less severe disease than previous variants, even among unvaccinated people.
MI