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Encouraging results. Moderna’s vaccine against Covid-19, whose authorization is under study in several countries, produced antibodies that persisted 90 days after vaccination, according to a study of 34 participants at the start of clinical trials, published Thursday, December 3 in the journal medical New England Journal of Medicine.
The term of protection is undoubtedly longer, but these are the first data over a period of several months, independently validated by a scientific journal. Participants will be followed up for 13 months to verify long-term protection, say the authors.
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 decline “light” and the level of antibodies expected in vaccinated participants, but at a level that remained high and above the natural immunity seen in former patients recovered from Covid-19. Furthermore, no serious side effects were observed in the so-called Phase 1 study, which began in March.
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 the data on immune memory cells are not yet known, but previous studies have shown that the vaccine is effective in killer cells.
“Overall it’s pretty good news”, Benjamin Neuman, a professor at Texas A&M University, said of the new study. The specialist notes that even in the elderly the immune response remains “reasonably strong”.
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