Johnson & Johnson: Booster Pumps Up Antibodies Big Time

The Pfizer vaccine now known as Comirnaty has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, paving the way for booster shots. Moderna's full OK from the FDA is said to be just a few weeks away, and now Johnson & Johnson announced Wednesday that people who received a booster of its one-shot vaccine six to eight months after their first jab saw their antibodies spike nine times higher than what they saw 28 days after their initial vaccine, reports CNN. J&J's announcement came out of two early-stage clinical trials in the US and Europe, with the antibody leap witnessed in trial participants ages 18 to 55, as well as in seniors 65 and over who received a lower dosage, per CNBC.

While the first Johnson & Johnson vaccine offers a "strong and robust" immune response that can last "through eight months," "a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine," Dr. Mathai Mammen, head of R&D at J&J's Janssen arm, says in a statement. The announcement didn't mention how the Johnson & Johnson booster has been affected by the delta variant, or anything on safety. The company says it's working with the FDA and CDC on possibly readying a booster. (More coronavirus vaccine stories.)