Cape Town - The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine is around 91-96% effective against death and has been found to be effective against the Delta variant, according to researchers from the Covid-19 Sisonke Implementation Study.
Co-principal investigator of the study, Professor Glenda Gray, said the findings show that there is “remarkable protection” against Covid-19 hospitalisation and death.
“Protection is good against both the Beta and the Delta variant. There was 67% protection against hospitalisation with the Beta variant and 71% protection against hospitalisation with the Delta variant,” she said during a media briefing on Friday.
“Our data shows that the vaccine protects against the Beta and Delta variant, in fact, there is better efficacy against Delta than there is against the Beta based on our analysis.”
The Sisonke study vaccinated over 477 000 healthcare workers from 120 sites in both rural and urban areas between 17 February and 17 of May.
Final results from the study found that the J&J vaccine also showed a sustained immune response in healthcare workers.
Gray said the vaccine can provide around 65% protection against hospitalisation for up to eight months.
“There is no need for a booster shot yet as the vaccine has shown good durability but we will continue to evaluate this as we follow up with the healthcare workers,” she said.
The study found that there were some breakthrough infections following vaccination, however, these were mostly mild cases.
“Around 96% of the breakthrough infections were mild, 3% moderate, less than 0.05% severe and less than 0.05% in deaths,” said Gray.
The study has deemed the vaccine to be safe and while there were concerns about the rare clotting disorder — thrombocytopenia thrombosis syndrome — there were only two cases and both made a full recovery.
[Watch Live] Newly-appointed Minister of @HealthZA Dr Joe Phaahla together with the Director-General Dr Sandile Buthelezi and panel of experts, will brief media on government efforts in the fight against #COVID19 & #VaccinneRolloutSA programme https://t.co/UN9K8I6lSj
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African News Agency