Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has announced that it is collaborating with academic institutions internationally to gauge the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants.
In particular, J&J said it is conducting research on blood serum from clinical trial volunteers who have received single or multiple doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The company also vowed to design and develop an Omicron-specific variant vaccine if necessary.
“We remain confident in the robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses elicited by the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated by the durability and breadth of protection against variants to date in clinical studies,” said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head, Janssen Research & Development, in a press release. “Building on our long-term collaboration with scientists on the ground in South Africa and the ongoing real-world effectiveness studies being conducted with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, we will work together to generate new data on Omicron.”
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) have also been vocal about their plans to update their vaccines, if necessary, to fight the Omicron variant.
Tell Us What You Think!