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One booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the company says, significantly raises antibody levels against the coronavirus. reported Wednesday.
Johnson & Johnson will submit the data to the Food and Drug Administration, which is evaluating similar studies by Pfizer and Moderna. Biden administration, if authorized by the agency wants to provide booster shots eight months after vaccination.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was not included in the government’s initial support plan, announced last week. But with the new data, the company hopes to be part of the first rollout of additional footage, which could happen as early as September.
Global head of Janssen Research and Development, Dr. “We look forward to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy for our Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine that increases eight months or more after the primary single dose vaccination,” said Mathai Mammen. In a statement to Johnson & Johnson,
Inside FebruaryThe FDA granted emergency clearance to Johnson & Johnson for its one-time vaccine. A clinical trial conducted last fall and winter showed that a single shot was 72 percent effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 among US participants. In the trial, none of the vaccinated volunteers were hospitalized or died.
Johnson & Johnson conducted its clinical trial before the Delta variant became widespread, leaving open the question of how well the vaccine works against the highly contagious form of the virus. But in a study published earlier this month, South African researchers found that a single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine up to 95 percent effective It reduced the risk of death and hospitalization from the Delta variant by 71 percent.
In its new study, Johnson & Johnson followed 17 volunteers from last year’s clinical trial. Six months after vaccination, antibody levels had changed little.
This differs from the pattern seen in the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. These vaccines initially produce higher levels of antibodies, but their levels then drop over a few months.
When volunteers in the Johnson & Johnson trial were given a booster injection every six months, their antibodies to the coronavirus increased nine times more than with the first dose.
Research on the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines found a comparable jump in antibody levels. As the three vaccines have not been tested in a head-to-head comparison, it is not possible to determine which provides the greatest support.
Johnson & Johnson said it posted a paper describing the research to its website. Medrxiv. It has not been published there yet.
A number of studies show that higher antibody levels provide better protection, especially against the Delta variant. But other parts of the immune system, such as T cells, are also important. So these data cannot give a exact estimate On how effective the booster shot will be against Covid-19.
D., virologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and who led some of the work for Johnson & Johnson, but was not involved in the booster trial. “It’s too early to estimate protection,” said Dan Barouch.
Along with the antibodies, the Johnson & Johnson researchers also found that the booster increases the body’s supply of immune cells that can attack coronavirus-infected cells. These results are still being prepared for publication.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the only vaccine authorized as a single dose in the United States or Europe. Since November, the company has been running a clinical trial to look at how much protection people get from two doses two months apart. that try Results are expected in the coming weeks.
After the volunteers in this experiment received the second dose, their antibody levels tripled. The much larger increase in the new booster study is likely due to the longer wait time between doses. The six-month pause gives the immune system time to develop a more mature response to the coronavirus.
This spring, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine distribution was largely blocked by a contractor in the United States. wrong use Production at the Maryland plant. Only eight percent of vaccinated Americans — or about 14 million people — have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control.
Since then, the US vaccine supply has increased. A federal official said the government has enough supplies to give supplements to anyone who gets a first dose of Johnson & Johnson if authorized.
For Americans, news of potential Johnson & Johnson supporters may be troubling in other countries still awaiting their first dose of vaccines. South AfricaFor example, he ordered 31 million doses of the vaccine, but only received two million there.
a interview Last month, a Johnson & Johnson executive with CNBC said the company aims to produce 500 million to 600 million doses globally by 2021.
Noah Weiland contributing reporting.
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