J&J vaccine gives at least 8 months of immunity, protects against delta variant, studies say

>> GOOD TOEE S YOU. EMILY: TWICE IN THE PAST WEEK WE'VE SEEN THE IN THE PAST WEEK, WE'VE SEEN THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES IN MASSACHUSETTS DIP BELOW ONE HUNDRED. DO YOU EXPECT IT TO GO EVEN LOR?WE >> YEAH, I TNKHI SO. THESE LOW NUMBERS LOWEST THAT WE'VE SEEN SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN ARE A DIRECT EFFECT OF OUR VACCINES WHICH ARE SIMPLY A MIRACLE OF MODERN MEDICE.IN WHAT WE'RE SEEING, THEY ARE BRINGING CASES DOWN IN THE VACCINATED, BUT THEY ARE BRINGING CASES DOWN IN THE UNVACCINATED. THERE'S ONLY SO LOW YOU CAN GO. IF THERE WAS NO COVID AT ALL, YOU WILL STILL HAVE SOME FALSPOE-SITIVE TEST. NO TEST IS PERFECT. EMILY: THAT'S REALLY ENCOURAGING. WE BALANCE THAT WITH THISEW N DEALT VARIANT. WE KNOW IT SPREADS FASTER, AND MAY CAUSE MORE SEVERE SYMPTOMS. DO I NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT IF I'M FULLY VACCINATED? >> PFIZER AND MODERNA WORKS REALLY WELL AGAINST THE DTAEL VARIANT. WE DON'T KNOW AS MHUC ABOUT THE J&J VACCI.NE THE EARLY DATAS I PROMISING. IF YOU'RE VACCINATED, I WOULD NOT WORRY. IF YOU'RE NOT, I RECOMMEND YOU GET VACCINATED AS SOOASN POSSIBLE. EMILY: GOOD TO KNOW. LET'S TKAL ABOUT THIS. WE LEARNED THIS WEEK THAT YOUNG PEOPLE, MOST OFTEN, MALES, APPEAR TO HAVE A VERY SMALL RISK OF DEVELOPING A HEART AILMTEN WITHIN DAYS AFTER RECEIVINGHE T SECOND DOSE OF MODERNA OR PFIZ.ER DO YOU THINK THERE A'S CONNECTION? AND HOW RARE ARE THESEAS CES? >> UNFORTUNATELY, I DO THINK THERE'S A CONNECTION. THE REASON I THINK THAT IS BECAUSE ONE, ETH RATE OF THIS CONDITION IN THE RECENTLY VACCINATED DOES APPEAR TO BE HIGHER THAN IT IS INHE T GENERAL POPULATION OF PEOPLE OF SIMARIL AGES. TWO, BECAUSE OF THE RATHER CONSISTENT TIMING, WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND FOUR DAYS AFTERHE T SHOT. THREE, BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY APPEARS A LOT MORE COMMON AFTER THE SECOND SHOT THAN THE FIRST. IT IS VERY RARE ABOUT EHTIG CASES PER MILLION VACCINE DOS.ES EMILY: WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ETH SYMPTOMS, AND GETTING TREATMENT? >> THE SYMPTOMS ARE THE CONDITION WHICH IS CALDLE MYOCARDITIS OR CHEST PAIN, SHORTNESS OF BREH,AT PALPITATIO ONSR FEVER. IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEEK TREATMENT WHICH IS MOSTLY SUPPORTIVE. NEARLY ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE HAD THIS COMPLICATIONS HAVE RECOVERED VERY QUICKLY. EMILY: THAST' REASSURING TOO. THANK YOU SO MUCH

The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine provides immunity that lasts at least eight months and appears to provide adequate protection against the worrying delta variant, the company said in a statement Thursday night."Current data for the eight months studied so far show that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of research and development at J&J's Janssen vaccine arm, said in a statement.The company said one dose of the vaccine elicits a lasting antibody response and generates immune cells called T-cells that last eight months.Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School and colleagues tested blood taken from 20 volunteers in an early stage, Phase 1/2 trial of the vaccine."These data are promising and reassuring," Barouch told CNN. Barouch has submitted his findings to the BioRxiv pre-print server."Data showed that T-cell responses — including CD8+ T-cells that seek out and destroy infected cells — persisted over the eight-month timeframe examined," the company said.These are not real-world efficacy data, but antibody and T-cell response usually indicate protection, Barouch said.Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have both said their two-dose vaccines are protective for at least six months and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis reported earlier this week that their studies of vaccinated volunteers indicate protection from the vaccines should last much longer than that — even for years. They did not test the J&J vaccine.Barouch's team also tested blood from the vaccinated volunteers against the most worrying variants of the virus, including the delta variant first seen in India, the beta variant first seen in South Africa, and the gamma variant spreading in Brazil."We see robust neutralizing antibody coverage of the variant," Barouch said. Neutralizing antibodies are the immune system proteins that inactivate a virus before it can replicate."A single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies against a range of variants of concern, which increased over time, including against the increasingly prevalent and more transmissible delta variant, the partially neutralization-resistant beta, the gamma variants and others," the company said.Separately, a Janssen team in the Netherlands studied blood taken from eight vaccinated volunteers in the company's Phase 3 trial and found similar results against the variants.Earlier Thursday, J&J said a second or booster dose of its vaccine would not be necessary.Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed. "With regard to the idea of boosting, there's a lot of talk about that — but right now I think we still need to remember that in fact, the J&J vaccine is a highly effective vaccine that has been recommended very clearly and has received an emergency use authorization," Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a White House briefing Thursday.However, J&J, along with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is testing to see whether giving people two doses of its vaccine will provide better protection.

"Current data for the eight months studied so far show that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of research and development at J&J's Janssen vaccine arm, said in a statement.

The company said one dose of the vaccine elicits a lasting antibody response and generates immune cells called T-cells that last eight months.

Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School and colleagues tested blood taken from 20 volunteers in an early stage, Phase 1/2 trial of the vaccine.

"These data are promising and reassuring," Barouch told CNN. Barouch has submitted his findings to the BioRxiv pre-print server.

"Data showed that T-cell responses — including CD8+ T-cells that seek out and destroy infected cells — persisted over the eight-month timeframe examined," the company said.

These are not real-world efficacy data, but antibody and T-cell response usually indicate protection, Barouch said.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have both said their two-dose vaccines are protective for at least six months and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis reported earlier this week that their studies of vaccinated volunteers indicate protection from the vaccines should last much longer than that — even for years. They did not test the J&J vaccine.

Barouch's team also tested blood from the vaccinated volunteers against the most worrying variants of the virus, including the delta variant first seen in India, the beta variant first seen in South Africa, and the gamma variant spreading in Brazil.

"We see robust neutralizing antibody coverage of the variant," Barouch said. Neutralizing antibodies are the immune system proteins that inactivate a virus before it can replicate.

"A single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies against a range of variants of concern, which increased over time, including against the increasingly prevalent and more transmissible delta variant, the partially neutralization-resistant beta, the gamma variants and others," the company said.

Separately, a Janssen team in the Netherlands studied blood taken from eight vaccinated volunteers in the company's Phase 3 trial and found similar results against the variants.

Earlier Thursday, J&J said a second or booster dose of its vaccine would not be necessary.

Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed. "With regard to the idea of boosting, there's a lot of talk about that — but right now I think we still need to remember that in fact, the J&J vaccine is a highly effective vaccine that has been recommended very clearly and has received an emergency use authorization," Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a White House briefing Thursday.

However, J&J, along with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is testing to see whether giving people two doses of its vaccine will provide better protection.

J&J vaccine gives at least 8 months of immunity, protects against delta variant, studies say

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