A booster dose of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine significantly increases the body's immune response against COVID-19, the drugmaker said Aug. 25.
Johnson & Johnson conducted two studies involving participants who were previously vaccinated with its single-shot vaccine. They were administered a booster shot six to eight months after their initial vaccination.
New interim data from those studies found that the booster shot resulted in antibody levels that were nine times higher than 28 days after the initial single-dose vaccination.
The announcement comes a week after HHS laid out its COVID-19 booster plan, saying the U.S. is prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans who received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine beginning the week of Sept. 20 and starting eight months after an individual's second dose.
HHS' plan did not account for Americans who had received Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, as it said it was waiting on the drugmaker to deliver data on its booster shot.
Johnson & Johnson said it will submit its new data to the FDA, and it looks "forward to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy for our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, boosting eight months or longer after the primary single-dose vaccination."