Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have a common feature: they both use messenger RNA technology to fight the coronavirus. Now, research conducted at the Sutter Health Health Systems Research Center from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute has shown that Moderna’s generates higher and faster antibody responses than Pfizer’s.
To carry out the analysis, 611 health workers participated, whose average age was 47 years and 67% were women and 33% men. The volunteers provided serum samples at the beginning of the investigation and every three months, although finally 511 completed the follow-up during that period.
More antibodies with the second dose
At the beginning of the study, 532 of the 551 individuals were seronegative for the antibodies. Among the final cohort of 532 participants, 217 were immunized with the Pfizer drug and 315 with Moderna’s. Once the reports were obtained, it was observed that 530 of the 532 people developed antibodies after receiving the two punctures.
So, with the data in hand, it was found that for both drugs, the second dose had a higher antibody response than with the first. The highest levels were recorded after 6 weeks of immunization.
Variation in response
But between both vaccines, there was a noticeable variation in the antibody response. In those who received Moderna, their level was highest on days 14-20, 42-48, 70-76 and 77-83. Compared to those who were immunized with Pfizer, they showed antibodies highest on days 28-34.
One of the reasons given by scientists to justify this difference could be due to “significantly higher amounts of immunogen from Moderna’s COVID vaccine than in the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Furthermore, the comparatively broader protection observed for Moderna it may be due to the longer dose interval compared to that of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. “
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