Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine has shown to be effective against the Omicron variant, members of the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) stated on Monday, Jan. 13.
"It certainly looks like it," VEP member, Dr. Isagani Padolina said when asked about its effectiveness against Omicron during an online forum of the Department of Health (DOH). He said that this was based on preliminary data.
In South Africa where the COVID-19 variant Omicron first surfaced, Padolina said that Janssen is doing a "pretty good job" with its vaccine efficacy against the variant.
Padolina along with Dr. Gerard Belimac of the DOH-National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (DOH-NCDPC) shared data on Janssen as a booster shot. There, they revealed that based on studies done on the vaccine, it is as effective in building antibodies as a Pfizer booster for those whose primary series is Pfizer as well.
On the other hand, for those who received Sinovac as their primary series and was boosted with Janssen, there was a recorded increase in immune response similar to what was seen in other boosters such as Pfizer and Astrazeneca.
"All four vaccines, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Sinovac administered as a third dose induced a significant increase in binding and neutralizing antibody, which may improve protection against infection," Padolina said.
Inversely, a heterologous or mix and match booster dose proved to be effective as well as there was a noted increase in antibodies for those who received a single-dse Janssen vaccine as their primary series.
According to DOH, Janssen is part of the combination for booster doses. But as per National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) Advisory, this is not yet for implementation due to logistical concerns.