New data out of South Africa finds that the J&J booster shot appears to provide strong protection against severe disease caused by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The study, which was published online and has not yet undergone peer review, was conducted in a group of more than 69,000 South African health care workers.
All of them got their boosters six to nine months after having already received one dose of the J & J vaccine.
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The boosted health workers’ outcomes were compared to a similar number of unvaccinated South Africans.
The study found that people who’d gotten the J & J booster shot were 85% less likely to require hospitalization due to an infection from Omicron, compared to unvaccinated people.
That compares well to other data from South Africa showing that a booster shot of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine