Johnson & Johnson booster shot prompts large increase in immune response, company says

By Maggie Fox | CNN

Booster doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot coronavirus vaccine generated a large spike successful antibodies, the frontline immune strategy defenses against infection, the institution reported Wednesday.

People who received a booster six to 8 months aft their archetypal J&J shots saw antibodies summation nine-fold higher than 28 days aft the archetypal shot, Johnson & Johnson said.

The information comes from 2 Phase 2 studies conducted successful the United States and Europe, the institution said successful a statement. Some of the 2,000 oregon truthful radical successful the studies got booster doses six months aft their archetypal doses of J&J’s Janssen vaccine.

“New interim information from these studies show that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated a accelerated and robust summation successful spike-binding antibodies, nine-fold higher than 28 days aft the superior single-dose vaccination,” the institution said successful its statement.

“We person established that a azygous changeable of our COVID-19 vaccine generates beardown and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent done 8 months. With these caller data, we besides spot that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among survey participants who had antecedently received our vaccine,” Dr. Mathai Mammen, planetary caput of probe and improvement for Janssen, said successful a statement.

J&J said it was successful discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, European Medicines Agency, World Health Organization and different wellness authorities astir the request for offering a booster dose of the Janssen vaccine.

“We look guardant to discussing with nationalist wellness officials a imaginable strategy for our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, boosting 8 months oregon longer aft the superior single-dose vaccination,” Mammen added.

Many radical who received the J&J vaccine person been clamoring for accusation astir whether they volition request a booster shot. US national authorities officials person said they are preparing to commencement offering a booster dose to radical who got Moderna’s oregon Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine aft information showed boosters tin amp up the antibody effect — and aft studies started showing an uptick successful infections successful some vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The much transmissible Delta variant is partially to blame, experts say, arsenic is simply a waning immune response.

The Janssen vaccine was authorized astatine the extremity of February, much than 2 months aft Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines were authorized. About 14 cardinal Americans person received the J&J vaccine, according to the CDC.

Dr. Dan Barouch, a vaccine researcher astatine Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School who is not progressive successful the 2 objective studies but is helping survey J&J vaccines, said the findings enactment getting a booster shot, but lone aft a delay.

“The boost astatine six months is going to look precise awesome and substantially greater than what has already been reported successful presumption of the 2 period boost, and that is important due to the fact that it, successful my opinion, the boost should not beryllium astatine 2 months, but it truly should beryllium astatine six months oregon later,” Barouch told CNN.

Neither of the studies looked astatine real-world efficacy, truthful the institution has not demonstrated that radical who get boosters volition beryllium little apt to go infected oregon to make terrible disease. But researchers are opening to hold that antibody levels bash bespeak immune protection.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is made otherwise from Pfizer’s and Moderna’s. Those 2 vaccines usage messenger RNA oregon mRNA, encased successful small lipid particles, to transportation instructions to the assemblage to commencement an immune response.

The Janssen vaccine uses a crippled communal acold microorganism called an adenovirus to transportation successful akin instructions. There had been worries that a booster dose of specified a viral vector vaccine mightiness not enactment efficaciously due to the fact that of the anticipation the assemblage would make an immune effect against the vector, also.

“There was a theoretical interest that the procreation of anti-vector antibodies by the archetypal changeable could impede the usage of it again,” Barouch said.

“I deliberation these information enactment that to rest.”

Federal wellness officials person said they judge a booster dose of the Janssen vaccine volition beryllium needed astatine immoderate point.

“I’m rather definite that the FDA, CDC, NIH, White House volition usage these information to apt warrant oregon urge a booster for J&J-vaccinated people, astir apt with a 2nd changeable of J&J,” Barouch said.

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