The COVID-19 vaccine developed by the American biotechnology company Moderna and known as mRNA-1273 is seeking approval in the US and Europe, and it should be only a matter of time until many of us will get vaccinated. During the trials, Moderna’s vaccine registered a huge efficacy of over 94 percent.
Researchers from the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) co-developed the drug, and they wanted to find the answer to a lingering question for many people: how much immunity will the vaccine provide to those who receive it?
Three months of immunity after the booster vaccination
Those willing to get vaccinated will receive two shots of the drug, and they’re 28 days apart. The immunity for COVID-19 lasts for three months, and the researchers came to this conclusion after they observed the immune response of 34 participants during the first stage of a clinical trial.
The NIAID researchers said that the antibodies, which have the mission of stopping the SARS-CoV-2 virus from infecting the cells, “declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination.”
Benjamin Neuman, who is a virologist at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, declared:
The amount of vaccine-produced antibodies was higher in younger patients than in older patients, but reasonably strong immune responses were still seen even in patients up to 70 years of age.
An advisory committee of FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) will review the vaccine from Moderna on December 17. If the drug passes, it means that it can expect emergency approval.
How the vaccine works
Moderna’s vaccine is based on a new technology that uses mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) as genetic material encased in a lipid molecule. Once the substance enters the human body, it causes the cells to build a surface protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and thus tricking the immune system that it’s been infected. Therefore, the natural functioning of the organism is trained to build the right antibodies for when it has to deal with the real virus.
The new study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
