The J.&J. Vaccine Holds Its Own as Virus Data Grows

Not everyone is convinced that the Johnson Johnson vaccine is catching up. It may only appear to be effective now because many recipients got breakthrough infections early on, gaining additional immunity, said Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University. “They may have a different immunity profile,” she said.

The infection rate is now lower among people who got the Johnson Johnson vaccine but did not get a booster. Still, the death rate is slightly higher, compared with that among those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, Dr. Dean noted.

But the differences are not huge, and disappeared among those who got booster shots. The C.D.C.’s statistics on deaths only run through Jan. 1, and the Johnson Johnson vaccine’s edge may only become apparent in data from February or March, said Dan Barouch, a virologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who collaborated with Johnson Johnson in the development of the vaccine.

Deaths tend to lag infections, often by weeks or months, “because many deaths are after prolonged hospital courses,” he said.

Dr. Dean said for a clearer comparison of the vaccines, she would like to see data with information on individual factors, like prior infections and other high-risk conditions, rather than the age-adjusted overall numbers provided by the C.D.C.

“It is a shame that we don’t have more direct study of outcomes among people who received J.J.,” she said. That is in part because fewer people got the vaccine than the mRNA vaccines, she said, but also “because we’re relying on other countries generating data.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/health/covid-johnson-vaccine.html