Dr. Vin Gupta in intensive care and pulmonologist told CNBC that he is already encouraging patients who have received the one-off Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine to get a booster shot from Pfizer or Moderna amid the dramatic increase in Delta variant cases in the US Receive
Gupta, a professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told The News with Shepard Smith that “AstraZeneca, when combined with a Pfizer or Moderna booster, provides tremendous protection against delta in terms of antibody levels, which in patients. “
“I think these one-off J & Jers should be given the opportunity as we complete our clinical trial … I’m already telling my patients to do it if they can get access to it.”
Gupta’s comment follows a new study by a New York University laboratory Tuesday that raises serious questions about the effectiveness of J & J’s single-dose vaccine against the highly contagious Delta variant. The NYU study has not yet been peer-reviewed, but it did find that antibody levels in those who received the J&J injection may be low enough to be less protective.
CNBC correspondent Meg Tirrell interviewed the study’s lead author, Dr. Ned Landau, who told her that the study suggests “one should at least consider a second vaccination, a second vaccination” with the J&J vaccine, either with the same vaccine, or one from Pfizer or Moderna.
J&J told CNBC that its own data showed that the vaccine “produced strong, sustained activity against the Delta variant and other widely distributed variants.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNBC that they stood by their statement on booster vaccination earlier this month that “Americans who have been fully vaccinated currently do not need a booster vaccination.”
Gupta was promoting the booster case when he told host Shepard Smith that his “definition of being fully vaccinated is two doses of a vaccine”.
Smith asked for clarification on whether Gupta believes the nearly 13 million Americans who received the J&J dose were in fact fully vaccinated.
“I think you are protected, likely from the hospital and serious consequences, say, the Delta variant based on the data we have,” said Gupta. “I don’t think you have the same protection from transmitting the virus as someone who received two doses of the vaccine like Pfizer or Moderna. I think that’s pretty clear at this point.”
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