*The South African Medical Research Council’s research indicates that the J&J vaccine booster in a recent study reduced the risk of hospitalisations from COVID-19 among healthcare workers in the Southern African country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced new preliminary results from the South African Phase 3b Sisonke study.

The results showed that its vaccine booster demonstrated 85 percent effectiveness against COVID-19-related hospitalisations, agency report said.

ConsumerConnect gathered the study was conducted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and indicated that the vaccine booster reduced the risk of hospitalisation from COVID-19 among healthcare workers in South Africa after Omicron became the dominant variant.

Dr. Mathai Mammen, Global Head, Janssen Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson, said: “We believe that the protection could be due to the robust T-cell responses induced by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

“Furthermore, these data suggest that Omicron is not affecting the T-cell responses generated by our vaccine.”