If you got J&J vaccine, consider two mRNA booster shots, CDC data suggest

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The nearly 17 million Americans who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine are less protected against serious illness and hospitalizations than those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, according to federal data released Tuesday. The latest data suggest Johnson & Johnson recipients should get a booster with one of the messenger RNA vaccines, if they haven’t already done so — and even consider a second messenger RNA booster for the greatest protection.

The data come from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that analyzed the results of mix-and-match vaccine-and-booster combinations during a four-month period when the highly transmissible omicron variant was dominant. Even combining a Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a booster of either Johnson & Johnson, or one of the two messenger RNA vaccines, wasn’t as strong as three shots of the messenger RNA vaccines in preventing emergency room visits or hospitalizations, according to the report. The results confirm what health officials and scientists have known for some time based on earlier research. But the study is important because vaccine effectiveness data on the mix-and-match booster strategies in the real world has been limited.

The new data, from a 10-state study conducted by independent researchers, may provide clarity amid a confusing stew of data about the single-dose vaccine. It shows that three doses of a messenger RNA vaccine perform the best, while a Johnson & Johnson vaccine followed by a messenger RNA booster shot is next best. Two shots of Johnson & Johnson provide a lower level of protection, with a single shot just 31 percent effective against hospitalization. “That’s too low, especially in this world where we have access to other things,” said Natalie E. Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. “One priority is making sure that people who only received one dose [of Johnson & Johnson vaccine] are aware that they should go and get, preferably, a messenger RNA vaccine.”

The data also suggest a second boost with a messenger RNA vaccine may need to be considered, even for individuals who have received two doses of Johnson & Johnson, said Boghuma Titanji, an infectious-diseases expert at Emory University. “This is not yet a formal recommendation,” Titanji said, “but is something individuals who fall in this category should discuss with their health-care provider.” The takeaway: “If you can get the messenger RNA vaccine series, and especially get one as a booster, this [study] confirms that is the way to go,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/29/messenger-rna-boosters-recommended-johnson-johnson-vaccine/

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Here is a link to CDC's MMWR mentioned in the OP that just issued today - https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7113e2.htm?s_cid=mm7113e2_w

I know there are many DUers who were recipients of Janssen's (J&J) vaccine (one of my uncles got that one too) and have been understandably frustrated at being left out of the consideration for how to proceed with additional doses/boosters.

That particular vaccine was an alternative to the mRNA vaccines, which were literally used for the very first time in a pandemic vs one of the "traditional" platforms for vaccines (like this). Due to the severity of the diseases that COVID-19 have caused, it was approved in order to get as much vaccine out there for people, and in its case, it could be done with a single dose to achieve at least the minimum efficacy typically required for vaccines (with a benefit of use in those who are trypanophobic (afraid of needles) or whose condition may have precluded use of needles, as well as those who are difficult to reach like the home-bound and transient populations.