An analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson didn’t have the most breakthrough infections in the last five weeks of data, which began in late December.

During the Omicron outbreak in January, those who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had the highest rate of breakthrough infections, followed by those who received the Moderna vaccine. Breakthrough infections were rarest among those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

However, any vaccine is better than none at all. Unvaccinated people were more than twice as likely to become infected during the Delta and Omicron outbreaks as those who had Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Unvaccinated people had more than three times the chance of contracting Covid-19 than those who had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was shown to be 76 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections and 81 percent effective in preventing Covid-related hospitalizations before and during the Delta surge, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open. The J&J vaccine also offered long-lasting immunity for at least 6 months following inoculation, according to the study.

While studies have demonstrated that the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines elicit a strong immunological response, this response can fade over time. Although Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine does not produce a robust immune response right after vaccination, it is considered to be more durable.

As explained by Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and VAccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston: “Over time, the efficacy of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines goes down, the efficacy of the J&J vaccines remains stable.”

However, the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations have been given to significantly more Americans than the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The CDC recommended the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the Johnson & Johnson shot in December, citing evidence that a rare blood clotting illness known as TTS is more likely in some persons who received a J&J vaccine, particularly women aged 30 to 49.

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