Study finds antibody levels remain elevated 3 months after Moderna vaccination

A new study finds that people still had high levels of antibodies three months after receiving the Moderna vaccine, positive news for estimating how long immunity to the virus from the vaccine will last.

The results published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that people will have immunity for at least three months after receiving the vaccine. It is still a serious question of how long immunity will last in total. It is possible people will have to return to get booster shots after some number of months if immunity is not long-lasting.

But the results finding elevated antibody levels three months after people received the second dose of the Moderna vaccine are encouraging, researchers said. 

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“These data give us further optimism to expect that the high level of efficacy recently demonstrated by [the vaccine] to prevent COVID-19 disease will be durable,” said Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer. 

Neutralizing antibody levels “declined slightly over time, as expected, but they remained elevated in all participants 3 months after the booster vaccination,” the letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine states. 

Study results previously showed that Moderna’s vaccine has a very high level of efficacy, at 94.1 percent, a similar level to another vaccine from Pfizer. 

Vaccinations from Moderna and Pfizer are expected to begin later this month after Food and Drug Administration authorization, starting with high-risk groups like health care workers and the elderly. 

The general public is not expected to have access to the vaccine until sometime in the spring. 

Moderna said it will have 20 million doses available in the U.S. by the end of the year, and 85 to 100 million in the first quarter of next year. Each person requires two doses. 

Cena On Lesnar's Failed Drug Tests: He'll Be Perceived Differently

During his appearance on ESPN on Tuesday, WWE Superstar John Cena commented on the two failed USADA drug tests Brock Lesnar had for his fight at UFC 200 against Mark Hunt earlier this month.

Cena appeared on ESPN with former WWE broadcast member Jonathan Coachman for the weekly “WWE Off The Top Rope” segment last night. In addition to talking about this week’s RAW and the WWE Draft, Cena commented on Lesnar’s two failed drug tests with USADA.

“There’s no way that people aren’t going to perceive Brock Lesnar differently, and when something like this happens, you set yourself a long, hard road ahead of you,” said Cena.

Lesnar tested positive in both an out-of-competition test and an in-competition test the day of his fight at UFC 200. USADA has yet to announce how they will be handling the Lesnar situation.

To view Cena’s appearance on ESPN, click here.

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