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The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, recently shown to be 94% effective, causes the human immune system to produce strong antibodies that last for at least three months, a study showed Thursday.
Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-developed the drug, studied the immune response of 34 adult participants, young and old, in the first stage of a clinical trial.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, they said that antibodies, which prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from invading human cells, “decreased slightly over time, as expected, but remained high in all. participants 3 months after the booster. vaccination. “
The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is given as two injections 28 days apart.
Even if the antibody count fades over time, this is not necessarily a cause for concern.
NIAID Director Anthony Fauci and other experts said it was very likely that the immune system would remember the virus if it was later reexposed and then produce new antibodies.
Encouragingly, the study showed that the vaccine activates a certain type of immune cell that should help with the so-called memory response, but only a longer-term study will confirm if this will actually be the case.
The Moderna vaccine will be reviewed by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee on December 17, and may be given the green light for emergency approval shortly thereafter.
Like another vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, it is based on new technology that uses genetic material in the form of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).
The mRNA is locked in a lipid molecule and injected into the arm, where it causes cells inside our muscles to build a surface protein for the coronavirus.
This tricks the immune system into thinking it has been infected with a microbe and causes it to create the right kind of antibody when it encounters the real virus.
ia / st
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