Johnson & Johnson booster slashed hospitalizations during omicron wave by 85 percent, South Africa study suggests

The study, which has not yet been adjacent reviewed, looked astatine infirmary admissions from mid-November to mid-December, arsenic the state experienced a question of omicron infections, and compared the boosted health-care workers with radical who had not been vaccinated. It recovered that the booster was astir 85 percent effectual successful preventing infirmary admissions from covid-19, one to 2 months aft the 2nd dose.

In a connection shared Thursday, Johnson & Johnson said that the preliminary findings demonstrated the booster’s effectiveness successful the look of a highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus, which is present ascendant successful South Africa.

Nicholas Crisp, lawman manager wide of the South African National Department of Health, said successful the connection that helium hoped the information would “reassure healthcare workers who person not taken their booster to get vaccinated arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

The probe authors noted that their investigation had limitations, including abbreviated follow-up times successful the study.

According to Johnson & Johnson, a 2nd survey conducted astatine the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center successful Boston highlighted that the booster’s occurrence whitethorn beryllium owed to its quality to forestall terrible corruption by evoking a beardown immune effect from cells known arsenic T-cells.

“As the Omicron variant has mutated from the archetypal SARS-CoV-2 strain, determination is simply a request to recognize however effectual presently authorized COVID-19 vaccines stay astatine protecting against terrible disease,” said Dan Barouch, manager of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research astatine Beth Israel.

“Our investigation shows that a booster changeable of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated a robust summation successful some neutralizing antibodies and T-cells to Omicron,” helium added.

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been successful usage successful the United States since aboriginal 2021, and successful October the Food and Drug Administration authorized its booster shot. However, this period the manager of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Pfizer-BioNTech oregon Moderna shots implicit Johnson & Johnson, citing concerns implicit the accrued hazard of a perchance fatal humor clot issue.

The caller findings travel arsenic countries crossed the satellite determination to incorporate the dispersed of the contagious variant, imposing stringent lockdowns, reintroducing restrictions and canceling nationalist New Year’s Eve events.

From crossed Europe to the United States, governments astir the satellite are continuing to impulse radical to get vaccinated oregon spell for their booster shots.

Calls for boosters and for the unvaccinated to alteration their minds person been further amplified by the omicron outbreak. The pandemic has claimed astir 823,000 lives successful the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University data.