Story at a glance
- Recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine produced strong neutralizing antibodies over the course of at least eight months against coronavirus variants, including the delta variant, the company said.
- The company said its vaccine neutralized the delta variant within 29 days and protection improved over time.
- The vaccine showed to be more effective against the delta variant than the beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa.
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be effective against the highly contagious delta variant, the pharmaceutical company said.
Recipients of the vaccine produced strong neutralizing antibodies over the course of at least eight months against variants of concern, including the delta variant, the company said in a release Thursday.
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The vaccine was more effective against the delta variant than the beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa in December.
The company said its vaccine neutralized the coronavirus strain within 29 days and protection improved over time, according to data from two small studies recently submitted for online publication.
“We believe that our vaccine offers durable protection against COVID-19 and elicits neutralizing activity against the delta variant. This adds to the robust body of clinical data supporting our single-shot vaccine’s ability to protect against multiple variants of concern,” Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said in a release.
Public health officials have maintained COVID-19 vaccines work against the highly transmissible delta strain, but the data were mostly based on studies focused on mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
The announcement comes as health experts are concerned parts of the country with low vaccination rates could experience significant outbreaks due to the highly transmissible strain.
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The delta variant is the second-most prevalent variant in the U.S., making up about 25 percent of cases, and is expected to eclipse the dominant alpha strain.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky urged Americans to be immunized to protect themselves from the virus, noting 1,000 counties in the U.S. have less than 30 percent vaccination coverage primarily in the southeast and Midwest.
Walensky said she expects to see increased transmission in those communities unless more people are vaccinated.
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