Coronavirus: Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine generates lasting response, interim results show
- An early study found a long-lasting immune response in the single-dose vaccine, which could make mass-vaccination campaigns easier
- Meanwhile, a UK study found Covid-19 infection gives some patients immunity for at least five months
More than 90 per cent of participants made immune proteins, called neutralising antibodies, within 29 days after receiving the shot, according to the report, and participants formed the antibodies within 57 days. The immune response lasted for the full 71 days of the trial.
“Looking at the antibodies, there should be good hope and good reason that the vaccine will work” in the company’s late-stage clinical trial that is soon to report results, said J&J chief scientific officer Paul Stoffels.
Interim results from the phase 1/2 trial of participants ages 18 and older were published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The data expanded on more limited findings J&J first published in September.
Within weeks, J&J will learn how its vaccine performed in a late-stage trial of 45,000 volunteers. Stoffels now thinks it has the potential to be even higher than 70 per cent effective, based on the early-stage findings and other factors.