No Omicron deaths in J&J vaccine study in South Africa, says scientist

CAPE TOWN: No one has died from the Omicron coronavirus variant in a study of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine in

South Africa

, one of the co-lead investigators of the study said on Tuesday.

"Although we have had a lot of breakthrough infections there has been very little hospital admission in comparison to the

Delta

period. And as of today we have had no one who has died from Omicron from the J&J study, so that's the good news, it shows again that the vaccine is effective against severe disease and death," South African Medical Research Council president Glenda Gray told a news conference.