BREAKING NEWS: Johnson & Johnson says a second dose of its Covid vaccine raises antibody levels NINE-FOLD and that booster shots should be given after eight months
- Johnson & Johnson said data shows that people who receive a second shot of its COVID-19 vaccine see antibody levels increase nine-fold
- The firm says this is evidence that J&J recipients should be given booster shots eight months after receiving the first dose
Johnson & Johnson announced on Wednesday that a second dose of its COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong immune system response.
People who received a second shot of the vaccine six to eight months after their first shot saw antibody levels nine-fold higher than those who received a single dose.
The New Jersey-based company says the data provide evidence that J&J recipients should receive booster shots eight months after their initial vaccination.
It comes after the White House announced it plans to roll-out booster shots for people who receive the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson said data shows that people who receive a second shot of its COVID-19 vaccine see antibody levels increase nine-fold
J&J says it plans to submit data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is currently reviewing similar data from Pfizer and Moderna.
Last week, federal officials said they had not included J&J in their initial plans for booster shot rollouts due to a lack of data.
This left J&J vaccine recipients in limbo, especially the immunocompromised who may be at risk from the Indian ‘Delta’ variant despite being fully vaccinated.
The company hopes that it can join its rival vaccine makers when boosters shot start being distributed on September 20.
‘We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent through eight months,’ said Dr Mathai Mammen global head of research and development at J&J in a statement.
‘With these new data, we also see that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine.
‘We look forward to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy for our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, boosting eight months or longer after the primary single-dose vaccination.’
J&J said the manuscript was sent to pre-print server medRxiv.org, but it has yet to be posted on the site.
In February 2021, J&J’s shot became the third COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use authorization after a clinical trial showed 72 percent efficacy against infection.
Because the study was conducted before the highly transmissible Delta variant became widespread, officials worried that the one-shot vaccine wouldn’t offer much protection.
However, data released from a clinical trial in South Africa earlier this month found that the J&J vaccine was 71 percent effective against hospitalization from Delta and 96 percent effective against death.
It was even more effective than against the Beta variant, which originated in South Africa, joint lead investigator Glenda Gray said in a media briefing at the time.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.