Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine efficiency in South Africa

Health workers are 3–4 times more likely than the general population to develop COVID-19

There is thus an urgent need to get healthcare frontline workers vaccinated in South Africa. While the majority world lags massively behind in vaccine roll-out, South Africa’s much-anticipated Oxford-AstraZeneca (CoviShield) vaccine programme was halted under concerns regarding the efficacy of the vaccine against mild-moderate COVID caused by the 501.V2 variant.

Why the urgent need to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers?

• 1 in 7 cases of COVID-19 are in health workers globally
• To date 40 000 South African health workers have developed COVID-19, 6 473 have been hospitalised, and 663 of our colleagues have passed on.
• The JnJ ENSEMBLE trial showed excellent protection of a single-dose vaccine from JnJ against severe COVID-19, including in South Africa, so to delay would be unethical.

What is the efficiency of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in South Africa (including against the new 501.V2 variant)? The J&J vaccine was tested in 43 783 people from four continents, including 6,576 people in South Africa. The graphic below explains the efficacy of the vaccine.

Ad26.Cov2.S Vaccine (J&J) Protects Against Severe COVID-19 In South Africa