Johnson & Johnson says its single-shot vaccine effective against Delta variant

New Delhi, July 02: The single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is effective against the highly contagious Delta variant, even eight months after inoculation.

Data showed the vaccine showed a small drop in potency against the variant, compared with its effectiveness against the original virus, the US based pharma company said, adding that its vaccine was 85 per cent effective and could also help prevent hospitalisation and death.

"Current data for the eight months studied so far shows that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralising antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," Mathai Mammen, head of research & development at J&J's drugs business, said in the statement.

The Delta variant contributed to a surge in Covid-19 cases in India that resulted in the highest daily death tally in the world, and also prompted the UK to delay its reopening by one month in June.

WHO on Delta variant

The World Health Organization has said the Delta variant of COVID-19 is now present in nearly 100 countries as per conservative estimates, and warned that in the coming months the highly transmissible strain will become the dominant variant of the coronavirus globally.

96 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, though this is likely an underestimate as sequencing capacities needed to identify variants are limited. A number of these countries are attributing surges in infections and hospitalisations to this variant.

Given the increase in transmissibility, the WHO warned that the Delta variant is "expected to rapidly outcompete other variants and become the dominant variant over the coming months."