Johnson & Johnson announced their single-dose Wuhan coronavirus vaccine has 94 percent efficacy after a booster dose is given at two months, the company said Tuesday.
In a press release, Global Head of Janssen Research and Development Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., said that Johnson & Johnson’s Phase 3 study showed the booster shot provides 94 percent protection and a four-fold increase in antibodies when given at two months and a twelve-fold increase in antibodies when given at six months.
“Our large real-world evidence and Phase 3 studies confirm that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides strong and long-lasting protection against COVID-19-related hospitalizations,” Mammen said in the statement. “Our single-shot vaccine generates strong immune responses and long-lasting immune memory. And, when a booster of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is given, the strength of protection against COVID-19 further increases.”
Currently, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, produced by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, is the only single-dose coronavirus vaccine available in the United States. The vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization, but has not yet received the administration’s full and final approval.
“When a booster of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was given two months after the first shot, antibody levels rose to four to six times higher than observed after the single shot,” the press release reads. “When a booster of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was given six months after the single shot, antibody levels increased nine-fold one week after the booster and continued to climb to 12-fold higher four weeks after the booster. All rises were irrespective of age.”
Last month, President Biden issued remarks from the White House saying that booster shots for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, specifically, would be available by Sept. 20. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked countries with the ability to administer booster shots against COVID-19 to refrain from doing so through the end of the year. Johnson & Johnson announced last month that they have data to support boosting their single-dose covid shot.
“It is critical to prioritize protecting as many people as possible against hospitalization and death given the continued spread of COVID-19. A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that is easy to use, distribute and administer, and that provides strong and long-lasting protection is crucial to vaccinating the global population,” Paul Stoffels, M.D., vice chairman of the Executive Committee and chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson said in a statement. “We now have generated evidence that a booster shot further increases protection against COVID-19 and is expected to extend the duration of protection significantly.”