Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that studies show a booster dose of its vaccine offered a ninefold increase in antibodies compared with the vaccine on its own. The studies, released by Johnson & Johnson, come as the U.S. gears up next month to offer a third dose for those who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The Johnson & Johnson announcement said studies showed a booster dose of its vaccine showed "a rapid and robust increase in spike-binding antibodies, ninefold higher than 28 days after the primary single-dose vaccination." The company said it was working with federal officials, including the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on next steps to boost the effects of the vaccine and ready a possible booster shot.
The announcement came as CDC studies show vaccines are less effective against delta and a heightened need for such booster shots, though vaccines still were crucial in preventing hospitalizations. A CDC study released Tuesday shows protection from the vaccines may decline over time as the wildly contagious delta variant surges across the country. Once delta became the dominant strain in the U.S., vaccine effectiveness against infection decreased from 91% to 66%.
A second CDC study found that a quarter of COVID-19 infections between May and July in Los Angeles were breakthrough cases, but hospitalizations were significantly lower for those who had been inoculated. Unvaccinated people were more than 29 times more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated people, and about five times more likely to be infected.
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