Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, told CNBC on Wednesday that anyone who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine may be protected against the virus’ delta version. Murthy cited research showing that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is particularly successful in preventing hospitalization due to the more contagious form. He also suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccination be thought of as a “relative” to J&J’s shot because it was “developed on a comparable basis.” “While direct studies of Johnson & Johnson and the delta variant are still pending, Murthy told “The News with Shepard Smith” that “we have reasons to be hopeful,” because “the J&J vaccine has proven to be quite effective against preventing hospitalizations and deaths, with all the variants that we’ve seen to date.” ” As the delta strain spreads over the world, WHO experts recommended fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, maintain social distance, and take other pandemic-related precautions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on the other hand, said on Wednesday that it will leave mask-wearing standards to states and local health officials. The CDC guidance, according to Murthy, is centered on offering individuals options. “The CDC was essentially giving people flexibility and choice in its guidance, but it also wanted people to know that if you are fully vaccinated, your risk of getting this virus or passing it on is low, which is why it said masks are not required indoors or outdoors if you are fully vaccinated,” Murthy explained. Authorized vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson have shown to be highly successful in preventing Covid, particularly in the case of severe sickness and mortality./n
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