New research claims the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will last “at least” six months, but also suggests that new booster shots will be needed as the vaccine’s quasi-immunity either fades or new strains of COVID-19 emerge.
According to ABC Chicago, “New research suggests the protection the Moderna vaccine gives against COVID-19 lasts for at least six months” and “The report Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine echoes what Pfizer said last week about its vaccine, which works in a similar way.”
However, should the level of immunity given by the vaccines – which do not prevent individuals from contracting COVID-19, but instead lessen the symptoms – falter, or should variants of the China-originated virus not be controlled by the vaccine, booster shots will become a necessity to those seeking to be fully immunized against the disease, lest they risk the 99% recovery rate.
“Pfizer and Moderna have said they are working to update their vaccines, or possibly design a booster shot, in case they’re needed against variants,” ABC 7 noted.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, notes that there were 33 participants in the study who “had blood drawn over 6 months of vaccination” and “#SARSCoV2 neutralizing activity wast maintained in all the patients.”
On Twitter, NEJM noted, “A half-life of 202 days was determined for the live-virus neutralization activity,” which would be just over six months, potentially necessitating another dose of the vaccine.
33 participants who received both doses of the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine had blood drawn over 6 months after vaccination. #SARSCoV2 neutralizing activity was maintained in all the patients. A half-life of 202 days was determined for the live-virus neutralization activity.
— NEJM (@NEJM) April 6, 2021
This comes as researchers have determined a link between the competing AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots in the brain. National File reported, “Marco Cavaleri, the chair of the vaccine evaluation team at the EMA, told the Italian newspaper Il Messagero that in his opinion, ‘we can now say it is clear that there is an association (of the brain blood clots) with the vaccine.’ Cavaleri added that while he was sure that there was a ‘clear link’ with the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots, it is still not yet known what the actual cause of the deadly brain clots is.”
