Antibodies remain for 3 months with Moderna vaccine: Report

WASHINGTON DC: A study released on Thursday, December 3, showed that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine can produce potent antibodies in the human immune system which will endure for at least three months. The vaccine, co-developed by researchers at National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was recently tested to be almost 94 per cent effective. They studied the immune response of 34 adult participants (young and old), from the first stage of clinical trials.

The report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said that antibodies which inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 from invading the human cells declined slowly with time as expected. However, the antibodies remained for a period of 3 months in all the participants after the booster vaccination. The vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, is given in two doses within a period of 28 days.

Anthony Fauci, Director, NIAID, said that there are good chances that the immune system will remember the novel coronavirus and will produce new antibodies to protect the body. The study showed that the vaccine activated a certain type of immune cell which should help in memory response.