A vaccinated woman in Orlando tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday, just a few days after a new study on the effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was published.
The study showed the company's vaccine was much less effective against the Delta and Lambda variants than the original strain.
The Orlando mother, who did not want to be identified, said she learned about her positive test at a free Covid-19 testing facility in Orange County. She said she and her husband were vaccinated in April but they both got sick. She said her son tested positive, too.
According to the authors of the study, a single shot of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine will not be enough to protect people from the new strains. The study said people may need to get a booster shot from Johnson & Johnson or a shot of Pfizer or Moderna's mRNA vaccines.
"I really don't know what to say because it's like we did everything we were told to do and still contracted it. I guess I'm going to have the booster shot," the woman said.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a medical journal, used blood samples in a laboratory. Experts said the test results may not reflect the vaccine's actual performance in the real world.
However, some experts said the conclusions of the study could be further evidence that the 13 million people that received Johnson & Johnson's vaccine are still not safe from the new strains.
The study's conclusions are contradictory to the conclusions of similar studies conducted by Johnson & Johnson. In their studies, the company said that just one shot of their vaccine will be enough to protect people even eight months after they are inoculated.
"The message that we wanted to give was not that people shouldn't get the J&J vaccine, but we hope that in the future, it will be boosted with either another dose of J&J or a boost with Pfizer or Moderna," the lead author of the study said.
The Delta variant is currently the most contagious version of the coronavirus known. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that the strain now accounts for about 83% of new infections in the U.S. She said the variant is responsible for the recent rise in new infections across the country.
