Moderna And Pfizer Vaccines Likely Produce Lasting Immunity: Study

A new study suggests that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are likely to provide long-lasting immunity to COVID-19. The study, which was conducted by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and published in the journal Nature, found that people who were fully vaccinated still had a robust immune response nearly four months later.

The researchers were looking at the germinal center, a specialized structure that forms in the lymph nodes following infection or vaccination. The structure trains B cells to fight off infections and possible variants. Typically, the germinal center slows down several weeks after vaccination, but the researchers found that 15 weeks later, the structure was still highly active.

“Germinal centers are the key to a persistent, protective immune response,” said senior author Ali Ellebedy, Ph.D., an associate professor of pathology & immunology, of medicine, and of molecular microbiology. “Germinal centers are where our immune memories are formed. And the longer we have a germinal center, the stronger and more durable our immunity will be because there’s a fierce selection process happening there, and only the best immune cells survive. We found that germinal centers were still going strong 15 weeks after the vaccine’s first dose. We’re still monitoring the germinal centers, and they’re not declining; in some people, they’re still ongoing. This is truly remarkable.”

Health experts are excited by these results, especially as the coronavirus continues to evolve.

“Everyone always focuses on the virus evolving — this is showing that the B cells are doing the same thing,” Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, told the New York Times. “And it’s going to be protective against ongoing evolution of the virus, which is really encouraging.”

The results of the study come amid growing calls for the Food and Drug Administration to fully approve the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer began the process to get full approval on May 7, and Moderna followed suit on June 1. The FDA is expected to make a decision sometime in the fall.