A health care worker holds a vaccine at the Gandhi Phoenix Settlement in South Africa. A study of the J&J booster shot in the country had promising results.
Agence France-Presse via Getty Images.
Two new studies of a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine booster showed promise against the omicron variant at a time when public health officials are urging booster shots against the fast-spreading variant.
There were 69,000 health care workers in South Africa. The vaccine reduced hospitalizations by 85% when compared to people who had a single dose.
Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, Johnson & Johnson is a single shot that can be followed by a booster dose after two months for people 18 and older.
The omicron variant was the dominant variant in South Africa at the time of the booster study.
The deputy director general of the South African National Department of Health said that the data should be reassuring to healthcare workers who have not taken their vaccine booster.
The blood from people who had received a booster dose of the J&J vaccine had a stronger immune response than the blood from people who had not. The stronger the immune response in the lab, the better the vaccine will be.
Neither study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
A high rate of breakthrough infections is being caused by people who have been given Pfizer and Moderna booster shots. Unvaccinated people have a higher risk of dying.
It's not clear how long booster protection lasts.
