J&J: Real-World Data Demonstrates Durability of Its COVID-19 Vaccine

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced new results from the largest study to date on the durability of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, showing that a single shot of its vaccine resulted in long-lasting protection for up to 6 months against breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, the company said in a statement.

The study was sponsored by J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies unit and conducted in partnership with the Department of Science-Aetion, Inc, and the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.“While these are rapidly evolving data, we are seeing vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19-related hospitalization of approximately 80% from a single shot of the J&J vaccine, and this level of protection holds steady across the length of time studied thus far, up to 6 months. The robust and sustained durability of our COVID-19 vaccine reflects its unique underlying immunology,” Mathai Mammen, MD, PhD, executive vice president of pharmaceuticals at Janssen Research & Development at J&J, said in a statement.

“We previously reported that our vaccine induces a strong antibody response as well as an especially strong increase in T-cells that is consistent across variants, including Omicron,” he said.

The J&J vaccine demonstrated a profile that showed durability of effectiveness up to 6 months for hospitalizations and ICU admissions across the study period, with a modest increase in breakthrough infections starting in month 4.

The initial level of effectiveness at 1 month after full vaccination was about 81% for hospitalizations and 74% for breakthrough infections.

There was no evidence of waning protection against COVID-19-related hospitalizations during the study period or against breakthrough infections in the first 3 months of follow-up. There was also no evidence of waning protection against COVID-19-related ICU admissions at any point.

There was not sufficient follow-up to include a category for longer than 6 months for breakthrough infections and hospitalizations.

The BNT162b2, or the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, demonstrated a profile that showed an increase in breakthrough infections and hospitalizations starting in month 2, with no waning of effectiveness for ICU admissions during the study period.

The initial level of effectiveness at 1 month after full vaccination was about 89% for breakthrough infections and 89% for hospitalizations.

There was evidence that the protection waned against COVID-19-related hospitalizations over time compared with the first month of follow-up from vaccination. Additionally, there was evidence that protection waned against breakthrough infections, with the waning was successively higher for each month of follow-up.

The mRNA-1273, or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, demonstrated a profile that showed an increase in hospitalizations in month 3 and breakthrough infections in month 2, with no waning effectiveness for ICU admissions over the study period.

There was evidence of waning protection against COVID-19-related hospitalizations over time compared with the first month of follow-up from vaccination.

There was evidence that protection waned against breakthrough infections, where waning was successively higher for each month of follow-up.

Additionally, preliminary data showed approximately an 85% effectiveness for the homologous booster shot of the J&J vaccine against COVID-19-related hospitalizations in South Africa when the omicron variant was the dominant strain.

The J&J vaccine has been authorized as a booster by multiple regulators and health care bodies around the world.

J&J continues to submit relevant data to health care regulators, the National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups, and the World Health Organization to inform decision-making on local vaccine administration strategies as needed.

Reference

Real world evidence shows Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates durable protection against breakthrough infection, hospitalization, and intensive care unit admission in the United States. Johnson & Johnson. News release. January 6, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2022. https://www.jnj.com/real-world-evidence-shows-johnson-johnson-covid-19-vaccine-demonstrates-durable-protection-against-breakthrough-infection-hospitalization-and-intensive-care-unit-admission-in-the-united-states