According to a new study, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is ineffective against the Indian ‘Delta’ coronavirus variant.
The findings suggest that a second dose of the J&J vaccine may be required to protect against variants, according to researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Researchers discovered that people who received the one-shot vaccine had much lower antibody levels than those who received the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
The findings add to the mounting evidence that the 13 million Americans who received J&J will require boosters to protect against highly infectious variants.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee on Wednesday that the Delta variant accounts for 83 percent of COVID-19 cases.
Blood samples from patients vaccinated with the three approved shots were tested against the variant in the study, which was not peer-reviewed.
When J&J patients were exposed to the Delta variant, antibody levels were found to be five to seven times lower.
“The message we wanted to give was not that people should not get J&K vaccine, but we hope that in future, it will be promoted Either that or another dose of J.&J. Or boost with Pfizer or Moderna,” said Nathaniel Landau, the study’s lead author and virologist at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, reports The New York Times.
The Delta variant of coronavirus is by far the most contagious version. It is responsible for 83 percent of infections in the United States, said director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Valensky said in a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
According to reports, J&J vaccine has also been linked to reports of blood clots and a rare neurological syndrome, as well as contamination problems at a manufacturing plant in Baltimore.
