Pharmaceutical and cosmetics multinational Johnson & Johnson announced Wednesday that a second dose of its covid-19 vaccine boosted immunity to the first and so far only dose.
In two clinical trials that have not yet been peer-reviewed, the additional injection of Johnson & Johnson’s antiviral generated antibody levels against the coronavirus nine times higher than those observed after four weeks of a first dose, he noted. the company in a statement.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden has announced plans for all Americans immunized with RNA messenger technology vaccines, Pfizer and Modern, to receive a third dose eight months after the second of the scheme.
Authorities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they believe a second dose of the J&J vaccine will be needed, but they need more data before making a firm recommendation to the population. Wednesday’s announcement is likely to help inform this strategy.
The company’s statement did not specify when the second dose was applied, but information on the trials on government websites shows that the company was testing multiple intervals, starting at six months.
The news comes after the CDC announced that the effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines in general has declined after the delta hypercontagiant variant became dominant in cases in the United States and many countries around the world.
In an ongoing study of health workers who were overwhelmingly vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna injections, the effectiveness against all forms of delta virus before falling from 91% to 66%.