You got J&J. Are you resistant to the delta variant?
Some Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients weighing booster shots
Sara Jenez was grateful to get Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine back in April, but amid worrying reports of aggressively spreading virus variants, she’s considering getting one of the other vaccine shots for added protection.
Like many who got J&J’s one-shot vaccine, she’s frustrated with the lack of clarity about its effectiveness and the conflicting advice from health experts on what to do about it, fueling a vigorous debate on social media. Reports on how well vaccines protect us from a variety of variants spreading through the U.S. focus on the more widely used vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, or AstraZeneca, which isn’t used in this country.
“No one is reporting on J&J,” said Jenez, 64, of Mountain View. “We’re being treated as if we don’t matter.”
Though federal and state health offi
cials still say booster shots aren’t needed, even against the rapidly spreading COVID-19 delta variant, a growing number of highly respected health experts across the country are advising otherwise for the 12.3 million Americans who had the Johnson & Johnson shot if they are at higher risk from the disease.
“For healthy people, there’s really not much need for a booster, but for people who are immunocompromised or elderly or having to take care of people who are immunocompromised, it might be safer to get a booster” with a shot by Pfizer or Moderna, said Dr. Michael Lin, associate professor of neurobiology at Stanford University.
He’s hardly alone. On Thursday, Dr. Celine Gounder, an assistant professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine who was on the Biden administration’s COVID-19 advisory panel, echoed Lin’s advice. She cited “a significant drop in overall vaccine effectiveness with the J&J vaccine versus the delta variant.”
Johnson & Johnson insists its shot offers robust protection.
“We believe that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will continue to offer durable protection, and at present there is no evidence to suggest a need for a booster dose to be administered,” the company said in a statement.
Many aren’t waiting around for federal and state health authorities to decide it’s a good idea.
On social media, those who had J&J’s shot trade advice on whether and how to top it off with a Pfizer or Moderna jab for extra protection.
Kali Monma, 36, of San Jose, said that after following news about the virus variants and talking to her father, who’s a doctor, she got a Pfizer shot, believing a booster to her J&J shot eventually will be recommended.
“I was concerned about my vaccination status, more for the likelihood of passing it to my children than for my own protection,” said Monma, a writer and mother whose kids, at ages 3 and 7, are too young to be vaccinated.
Of the 155.9 million who are fully vaccinated across the United States, 12.3 million, or about 8%, received Johnson & Johnson’s shot. In California, 1.5 million, or 7.5%, received that shot.
Clinical trials on the vaccines found Pfizer was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, followed closely by Moderna at 94.1%, and Johnson & Johnson at 66.3%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use new memory-RNA while J&J uses an older viral vector technology.
The vaccine trials were done before most of today’s worrisome variants had gained a foothold. Actual experience in highly vaccinated countries like Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. indicates they continue to provide protection against emerging variants. But Israel has been using Pfizer’s shot, the U.K. AstraZeneca and Pfizer, and the U.S. mostly Pfizer and Moderna.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday there’s “indirect evidence” of the J&J shot’s effectiveness from studies on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which uses similar viralvector technology.
AstraZeneca was 60% effective in preventing symptomatic illness in people infected with the delta variants compared to 79% to 88% for Pfizer. But AstraZeneca proved 92% effective in preventing hospitalization compared to 96% for Pfizer, he said.
Fauci called J&J’s vaccine “highly effective” and said “there’s no real fundamental scientific reason” to recommend a booster.
Johnson & Johnson said durability of the immune response from its vaccine has been measured up to 239 days.
The company Thursday announced a study found it produced stronger response against delta than the high efficacy it had shown against the beta variant in South Africa, with 85% protection against hospitalization and death.
“We are confident that the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be preserved against the delta variant,” the company said.
A recent study in the U.K. that found a robust immune response from mixing the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines has prompted many health experts to recommend doing that to boost protection against COVID-19 variants.
Although that strategy is being used overseas, U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Abby Capobianco said that “at this time, available information suggests that the FDA-authorized vaccines remain effective in protecting against currently circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2,” the virus that causes COVID-19.
The California Department of Public Health said it is “closely following evolving information about the ability of COVID-19 vaccine to protect against variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the delta variant,” but that for now, “booster doses are not recommended.” There have been no indications that those who got another vaccine after the J&J shot are suffering severe reactions. Monma said she had milder side effects from her recent Pfizer shot than she did after the J&J shot back in April.
But because a booster is not recommended by federal health authorities, medical providers and pharmacies with access to vaccination records deny additional vaccines to many who had J&J’s shot.
That happened to Sue Haine of Portland, Oregon, who was turned down by her health plan and local pharmacy and plans to try again at another drug store.
Lin said that while getting more people vaccinated is far more important than worrying whether one J&J shot will do, he’s sympathetic.
“If you’re a J&J vaccine recipient, you don’t know for sure the degree of protection,” Lin said, “and you’re not allowed to do anything about it.”