USA / Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine helps antibodies last for 3 months: Study

Washington: The US-based firm Moderna’s Coronavirus vaccine causes the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that last for at least three months, foreign agency AFP quoted a study as saying. Notably, the vaccine recently showed an efficacy of 94 per cent in protection against Coronavirus infection.

The study, conducted by the researchers at the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was done on 34 adult volunteers (both young and old). It was also found that the antibodies “declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination,” the report said.

According to experts, even if the antibodies fade over time, the immune system will remember the virus if re-exposed and produce new antibodies. As per the study, the shots may help produce a type of immune cell that will help the system remember the virus. However, this couldn’t be conformed. They said they can also be sure after a longer study is performed.

The Moderna Inc. had earlier said it would ask American and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirmed the shots offered strong protection against the coronavirus infection. It may get an emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after an advisory committee reviews the vaccine on December 17.

The European Medicines Agency, Europe’s version of FDA, has signaled it also is open to faster, emergency clearance.

Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the US in December. Across the Atlantic, British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.