Dialysis patients who received an adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) were found to have similar rates of breakthrough infection, hospitalisation and mortality as dialysis patients who received an mRNA-based vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech), according to a DaVita Clinical Research (DCR) study published online ahead of print by the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Steven Brunelli, vice president for DCR, said: “Vaccination remains the most effective manner of preventing severe illness due to COVID-19 for dialysis patients. Our observations provide reassurance that COVID-19 adenovirus vector-based vaccination, like that produced by Johnson & Johnson, is an effective clinical strategy to help protect these patients from COVID-19 and from associated hospitalisation or mortality.”
To assess the efficacy of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in dialysis patients, researchers matched patients who had received this vaccine with those that received Pfizer/BioNTech. In total, 2,572 matched pairs were evaluated from 27 February 2021 to 28 September 2021.
The study found no difference in the rates of breakthrough COVID-19 infection among patients treated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine compared to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine over the first six months post-vaccination.
The study further demonstrates that both vaccines were similarly effective at helping reduce the risk of hospitalisation and mortality in the event of a breakthrough infection, according to DCR.
