<p>The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which was recently demonstrated to have 94 percent efficacy, causes the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months, a study showed Thursday.</p>.<p>Researchers at the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-developed the drug, studied the immune response of 34 adult participants, young and old, from the first stage of a clinical trial.</p>.<p>Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, they said that the antibodies, which stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from invading human cells, "declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination."</p>.<p>The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is administered in two injections given 28 days apart.</p>.<p>Even though the number of antibodies fade over time, that's not necessarily a cause for concern.</p>.<p>NIAID director Anthony Fauci and other experts have said it's very likely that the immune system will remember the virus if re-exposed later on, and then produce new antibodies.</p>.<p>Encouragingly, the study showed that the vaccine activated a certain type of immune cell that should help out in the so-called memory response, but only longer term study will confirm if this will really be the case.</p>.<p>The Moderna vaccine will be reviewed by an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 17, and could be greenlit for emergency approval soon after.</p>.<p>Like another vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, it is based on a new technology that uses genetic material in the form of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).</p>.<p>The mRNA is encased in a lipid molecule and injected into the arm, where it causes cells inside our muscles to build a surface protein of the coronavirus.</p>.<p>This tricks the immune system into believing it's been infected with a microbe, and trains it to build the right kind of antibodies for when it encounters the real virus.</p>
<p>The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which was recently demonstrated to have 94 percent efficacy, causes the human immune system to produce potent antibodies that endure for at least three months, a study showed Thursday.</p>.<p>Researchers at the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-developed the drug, studied the immune response of 34 adult participants, young and old, from the first stage of a clinical trial.</p>.<p>Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, they said that the antibodies, which stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from invading human cells, "declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination."</p>.<p>The vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is administered in two injections given 28 days apart.</p>.<p>Even though the number of antibodies fade over time, that's not necessarily a cause for concern.</p>.<p>NIAID director Anthony Fauci and other experts have said it's very likely that the immune system will remember the virus if re-exposed later on, and then produce new antibodies.</p>.<p>Encouragingly, the study showed that the vaccine activated a certain type of immune cell that should help out in the so-called memory response, but only longer term study will confirm if this will really be the case.</p>.<p>The Moderna vaccine will be reviewed by an advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 17, and could be greenlit for emergency approval soon after.</p>.<p>Like another vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, it is based on a new technology that uses genetic material in the form of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).</p>.<p>The mRNA is encased in a lipid molecule and injected into the arm, where it causes cells inside our muscles to build a surface protein of the coronavirus.</p>.<p>This tricks the immune system into believing it's been infected with a microbe, and trains it to build the right kind of antibodies for when it encounters the real virus.</p>