COVID-19 infections among vaccinated people are rising in the U.K. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said breakthrough infections are not rare, unexpected, or very concerning.
In October, an expert panel that advises the CDC voted unanimously to approve boosters for specific groups and opened the door for mixing and matching vaccines. Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD (Infectious Disease, BIDMC) discussed how the decision was informed by a newly released NIH-funded study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, that suggests mixing and matching vaccine boosters is safe and effective among 458 participants enrolled.
In his new book, A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine, Wall Street Journal reporter Greg Zuckerman highlights stories of vaccine development, including mention of Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) and his work with the Ad26 viral vector technology.
New research from BIDMC published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine produces a more durable immune response than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, which have been found to wane over time. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) will present the data for the first time to the FDA’s scientific advisory committee on Friday morning, hours before the panel is expected to issue a recommendation on J&J’s booster to the agency.
New research from BIDMC published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine produces a more durable immune response than the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, which have been found to wane over time. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said that by month eight, antibody responses were comparable for these three vaccines.
Amid Covid variants concerns, in some countries, people have already received booster shots of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna after getting two shots of either AstraZeneca, Sinopharm or Sinovac. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said that theoretically, a person immunized with one vaccine and then boosted with another, “might be able to get the best of both worlds, but that no efficacy data on the approach is available yet.”
Johnson & Johnson is planning to ask federal regulators early this week to authorize a booster shot of its coronavirus vaccine. Last month, the company announced that a second dose, given two months after the first, increased the vaccine’s effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 by about 22 percentage points, to 94 percent. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said the data show that there is a dramatic increase in efficacy when the boost is given at two months and could potentially be even better when given later.
Sharon Wright, MD, MPH (Infection Prevention, BILH) discussed that while vaccination rates continue to increase in Massachusetts and across the U.S. and the number of new COVID cases and hospitalizations is declining, there is concern that transmission rates might increase as colder weather approaches.
J&J recently announced that a second shot substantially increased protection in a clinical trial. Dan Barouch, MD, PhD (Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC) said the shot has proven durable despite the Delta variant and cited a recent study where 390,000 J&J recipients found that the one-shot vaccine alone had an 81 percent efficacy rate against COVID-related hospitalization and 79 percent against symptomatic infections, with no evidence of decline from March to July.
