Covid-19: “A significant number of cases of failure of the Janssen vaccine” noted by the ANSM – LCI

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in the face of doubts. In a report published on Monday, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) points “a significant number of cases of Janssen vaccine failures”. According to the agency, the number of serious forms and deaths in people vaccinated with this product would be significant, while a “overrepresentation of patients vaccinated by Janssen” has been reported in two CHUs, those of Marseille and Tours.

This vaccine, the latest to arrive in the French countryside, has a definite advantage: that of requiring only one dose. The Ministry of Health used it in particular to vaccinate the most vulnerable people, far from the health care system. But now there are doubts about its effectiveness.

In total, 32 cases of Covid-19 infection have so far been reported in people who have received this vaccine, i.e. 3.78 infections per 100,000 vaccinated. Importantly, 29 of these cases were serious, and four deaths were even recorded. These incidents occurred in people aged 73 to 87, in patients with “mostly serious risk comorbidities”, is it specified in the ANSM report. For the 17 cases of infection where the variant is known, it was each time Delta.

In addition, if the number of French people admitted to intensive care despite a complete vaccination schedule remains low, several people hospitalized in critical care had received a dose of Janssen. In Marseille, of the seven patients fully vaccinated in intensive care, four had been with this vaccine. In Tours, this proportion was three out of six.

All these elements now justify “further investigations” to check if the failures are more important with Janssen than with the other vaccines available in France. But since the end of August, the High Authority for Health has already recommended that people who have received a dose of this vaccine receive a second injection of Pfizer or Moderna.

The Janssen vaccine is based on the adenovirus technique, like that of AstraZeneca, set aside in France, and all the doses of which are now redistributed to Covax, in order to be delivered to the poorest countries. The Johnson & Johnson product has been administered to one million French people, according to data from the Department of Health stopped on September 5. About 800,000 doses still remain in stock in the country.