Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) recently announced that a booster shot if its COVID-19 vaccine generated a "rapid and robust increase" in virus-fighting antibodies in early stage clinical trials. However, the drugmaker did not provide much information on the booster shot beyond its immune response.
The company said last Wednesday that a booster shot of its original COVID vaccine generated antibody levels "nine-fold higher" than levels seen in individuals 28 days after their first dose of the one-shot vaccine, which is after they are considered fully vaccinated. Those increases were the result of two Phase 1/2 clinical trials, with adult participants between the ages of 18 and 55 receiving a full dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and those 65 years and older receive a lower dosage booster shot.
"We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent through eight months," said Dr. Mathai Mammen, global head of research and development for Johnson & Johnson's pharamactural segment Janssen in a press statement. "With these new data, we also see that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine."
While the data is promising, the company did not elaborate on other issues like how its booster shot responds to the highly contagious Delta variant, which is one of the main reasons why public health officials are studying booster shots of the first generations of COVID vaccines. Other COVID vaccine makers like Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)-BioNTech (NASDAQ: BTNX) are also studying the effectiveness of booster shots, especially as new data shows that vaccine efficacy begins to wane over time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will likely need an eventual booster dose, but the agency said more research is needed before it will propose a formal recommendation. Johnson & Johnson said that it is currently engaging with the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC, the European Medicines Agency, as well as other global health authorities regarding booster shots.
Nevertheless, vaccine booster shots seem to be on the horizon for the American public. The Biden administration has been weighing whether or not individuals will need a booster dose of either U.S. approved COVID vaccine between five to eight month periods, with officials likely to go with whichever time period is most effective.