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The vaccine from the American laboratory Moderna against Covid-19 is capable of producing antibodies that persist 90 days after injection, according to a study of 34 participants at the start of clinical trials published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
These are the first data over a period of several months to have been independently validated by a scientific journal. Participants will be followed up for 13 months to verify long-term protection, the study authors say. The duration of protection is undoubtedly longer
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health tested the level of two types of coronavirus antibodies 90 days after the second dose of the vaccine, which in turn is given 28 days after the first.
They observed a “slight” and expected drop in antibody levels in vaccinated participants, but at a level that remained high and above the natural immunity seen in former Covid-19 patients. Furthermore, no serious side effects were observed in the so-called Phase 1 study, which began in March.
As Jean Castex recalls, presenting his strategy to vaccinate the population on Thursday, the American Moderna vaccine is one of those that will be deployed in France, with that of Pfizer-BioNtech and that of the British AstraZeneca.
Immune memory created for “a while”
Antibodies are only one component of the immune response, along with B (immune memory, antibody production) and T lymphocytes (which kill infected cells).
The researchers note that data on immune memory cells are not yet known, but previous studies have shown that the vaccine elicits killer cells well.
US specialist Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Infectious Diseases, recently said he was “certain” that the immune memory created by the vaccine would last for some time. “We don’t know if it will be one, two, three or five years, we don’t know,” he said though. Only time will tell.
“It’s pretty good news overall,” said Benjamin Neuman, a professor at Texas A&M University on Thursday of the study, noting that even in the elderly, the immune response remained “reasonably strong.”
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