Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that its single-dose vaccine was 72% effective in preventing Covid-19 in the US but a lower rate of 66% was observed globally in the large trial conducted across three continents and against multiple variants.
J&J’s main study goal was the prevention of moderate to severe Covid-19, and the vaccine was 85% effective in stopping severe disease and preventing hospitalisation across all geographies and against multiple variants 28 days after immunisation. Several studies emerged in January showing that an SA variant of the coronavirus has mutated in areas of the virus that are key targets of vaccines, reducing their efficacy.
In the J&J trial, which was conducted in eight countries, 44% of participants were from the US, 41% were from Central and South America, and 15% were from SA. The news of another safe and effective vaccine comes as the US has surpassed 430,000 Covid-19 deaths and with hospitals in many states still struggling to keep up with patients despite recent declines in new infections.
Apparently only 57% against the south African variant