Johnson & Johnson has said that its Covid-19 single-shot vaccine shows great promise against the Delta variant and other emerging strains, and also offers permanent protection against the infection in general.
The data showed that recipients of his vaccine had a duration of immune response lasting at least eight months, the health company said, adding that his vaccine was 85 percent effective and could also help prevent hospitalizations and deaths.
Delta was first identified in India and is becoming the world’s dominant variant of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization.
“Current data for the eight months studied so far shows that the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 single-shot vaccine produces a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not subside; rather, we see an improvement over time,” said Mathai Mammen, Head of Research & Development in J & J’s drug business, the statement reads.
Recipients of the vaccine produced strong neutralizing antibodies against all variants, including Delta, the US company said.
The Delta variant contributed to a spike in Covid-19 cases in India, leading to the highest daily death toll in the world, and also caused the UK to postpone reopening for a month in June.
J&J submitted the data to the bioRxiv website as a preprint prior to the peer review.
WHO ON DELTA VARIANT
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the delta variant of the novel coronavirus will become the dominant variant worldwide in the coming months. The global health agency said the highly communicable strain is now present in nearly 100 countries by conservative estimates and could become dominant in a few months.
In his Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, June 29, WHO said cases of the Delta variant have been reported in 96 countries and “although this is likely to be an underestimate as the sequencing capabilities required to identify variants are limited”.
“Some of these countries attribute an increase in infections and hospital stays to this variant,” said the WHO, adding, “A number of these countries attribute an increase in infections and hospital stays to this variant.”
The WHO warned that the delta variant “is expected to quickly outperform other variants”.
“In view of the increased transferability, it is expected that the delta variant will quickly leave other variants behind and become the dominant variant in the coming months“Said the WHO in its weekly report.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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