News special Covid-19 vaccines
Johnson & Johnson
More than 13 million people in the US have received
this vaccine, which only requires a single shot
How does it work?
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is
similar to the Oxford/AstraZeneca
one in using a harmless adenovirus
that has been tweaked so it can no
longer reproduce. But the Johnson
& Johnson one involves a human
virus, not a chimpanzee one. The
virus has been given a gene that
encodes the coronavirus’s spike
protein, which prompts our
immune cells to make the protein
and trigger an immune response.
Where is it made?
The Netherlands and the US.
Where has it been approved?
It has various forms of approval
in 59 countries, including the
UK and the US.
How many doses have been
distributed so far?
The US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that more than 13 million doses
have been given in the US.
Do vaccines affect long covid?
Being vaccinated reduces your
chance of getting long covid,
which can involve a variety of
symptoms that persist for weeks
or months after an infection
with coronavirus.
The benefits of vaccination in
reducing the risk of getting long
covid can be seen even if people
get infected after having a shot.
There is also evidence that
vaccines reduce the severity of
symptoms in most people who
already have long covid, but in a
minority their symptoms worsen.
While various studies are
getting under way, so far there
is almost no published evidence
on the relationship between
long covid and vaccination.
12 | New Scientist | 14 August 2021
Why do you only need one dose?
Johnson & Johnson tested
this vaccine giving just one
dose in its final-stage clinical
trials, because the initial small
trials suggested that this gave
a strong-enough immune
response. The firm also has
a trial ongoing testing two
doses given eight weeks apart,
an approach that is likely to
raise the immune response still
further and make it last longer.
Are there side effects?
The vaccine has been found
to rarely cause the same
blood-clotting syndrome,
called vaccine-induced immune
thrombotic thrombocytopenia,
or VITT, as the Oxford/
AstraZeneca vaccine. In the
US, 28 such cases of VITT were
identified after nearly 9 million
doses had been given. The CDC
paused use of the vaccine in
April as a result, but allowed
it to restart after 10 days.
“We do not yet know to what
extent covid-19 vaccination can
prevent long covid,” says Annika
Jödicke at the University of Oxford,
whose team will use data from
the UK’s National Health Services
to try to answer this question.
“We do not yet know to
what extent covid-19
vaccination can prevent
long covid”
A team at King’s College London
has released initial findings from
an ongoing study in which people
report any long covid symptoms
via an app. According to study
leader Tim Spector, vaccination
reduces the risk of getting long
How effective is it?
There is less real-world data
available for this vaccine than
for several of the others, but
its large clinical trial published in
April found that it reduced cases
of moderate-to-severe infections
CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
by 66 per cent and reduced
severe disease by 85 per cent.
There were no hospitalisations
or deaths during the trial.
How long does immunity last?
It isn’t yet known how long
immunity lasts.
How effective is it against variants?
Doses of the Johnson A study published in July
& Johnson vaccine in suggests that people who have
Kathmandu, Nepal the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
generate lower levels of antibodies
against the delta variant than
people who have the Pfizer/
BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
The study authors say a second
dose of the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine may be beneficial.
Clare Wilson
covid by a factor of 20 (medRxiv, “Ours is the largest study and
doi.org/gk7czd). This is mainly probably the best evidence to
because vaccination reduces the date,” says Ondine Sherwood at
risk of being infected in the first LongCovidSOS, a UK organisation
place by a factor of 10, and the that campaigns for support for
risk is also halved in those who people with long covid.
get infected despite being Of the three vaccines that
vaccinated, says Spector. Sherwood and her colleagues
For those who already have long assessed, the Moderna one was
covid, it seems vaccination can be most beneficial, reducing the
helpful. In a survey of 900 people average symptom severity score
who were vaccinated after having by 31 per cent. For Pfizer/BioNTech,
symptoms lasting for at least it was 24 per cent, and 23 per cent
four weeks and in most cases for Oxford/AstraZeneca.
more than three months, around Sherwood and her team want
60 per cent reported an overall to do a follow-up to see how long
improvement in their symptoms. the symptoms last and what
A quarter reported no difference the impact of a second dose is.
and 20 per cent reported worsened However, a randomised trial
symptoms (SSRN, doi.org/gqrw). rather than a survey would