COVID-19 Vaccines: Missing Race & Ethnicity Data / Single-Dose Effectiveness / J&J Recommendations

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP, FHM

Take a look at some of the latest developments in COVID-19 vaccines:

Missing race & ethnicity data: The American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, and American Pharmacists Association are urging healthcare professionals to "redouble efforts to collect and report race and ethnicity information when administering COVID-19 vaccinations." In an open letter posted online, the groups note that during the first month of vaccination in the U.S., nearly half of vaccinations reported to the CDC were missing race and ethnicity information. The letter's authors emphasize that such data "will allow our nation to better understand whether we are providing access to vaccines to vulnerable populations and inform efforts to improve vaccine confidence." They add, "We encourage clinicians to share with patients in a transparent and culturally sensitive manner why collecting race and ethnicity information can help improve the health of their families and communities."

Single-dose effectiveness: One dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine offers substantial protection against COVID-19, according to a preprint study posted online. U.K. researchers examined COVID-19 vaccination history among people aged 70 and older who submitted nearly 160,000 samples for PCR testing within 10 days of symptom onset between late October 2020 and February 2021. Some 28% of samples tested positive. Overall, one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine was 60%–70% effective at preventing symptomatic disease, and two doses were 85%–90% effective. People who received one dose and then developed COVID-19 were 43% less likely to be hospitalized and 51% less likely to die than those who were not vaccinated. The effectiveness of a single dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford adenovirus-vectored vaccine was similar in terms of symptomatic disease and hospitalization, while the researchers note it was too early to assess the effects on mortality. (Second doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine have not yet been given.) The B.1.117 SARS-CoV-2 variant became prominent in the U.K. during the study period, and the findings "largely reflect vaccine effectiveness against this variant," the authors write.

J&J recommendations: The CDC's recommendations for use of the Johnson & Johnson adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine — first reported over the weekend — have now been published in MMWR. Take a look at the link below.