Studies show that a booster shot of the single-dose Johnson
& Johnson
COVID-19 vaccine causes a “rapid and robust increase”
in the antibodies against the virus when used on people who have already
received its first dose, the company said on Wednesday.

According to a statement quoted by NBC News, the drug giant
said that the interim data showed a nine-fold increase in spike binding
antibodies in people who already had been given the J&J vaccine when compared
with 28 days after the first dose

The statement said that the increase was seen in trial
participants aged between 18 and 55. A similar increase was seen in people over
the age of 65 who received a lower booster dose. The company said that it
conducted the study early in anticipation of the need for booster doses. The
drugmaker has submitted the findings to the medical preprint publication
MedRxiv.

Global head of Janssen Research & Development at Johnson
& Johnson Mathai Mammen said that the drugmaker was looking “forward
to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy” for
deploying a J&J booster shot.

Johnson & Johnson said it was “engaging” with
the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
, as well as the European Medicines Agency, which is the main
regulator in Europe, and the World Health Organization, about using its shot as
a booster, NBC reported.

The United States is planning the booster shots as early as
the fall but those will be for people who were inoculated with Pfizer-BioNTech
and Moderna vaccines, both of whom have two shots.

The company claims that the neutralizing antibody responses
from its single-shot dose have been shown to hold up for eight months after
immunization. And experts say that the evidence suggests the vaccine appears to
be doing its primary job of keeping COVID-19 patients out of hospitals and away
from death.