Moderna’s vaccine produces twice as many antibodies as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, new research has revealed.
Antibody levels after the second dose of the two most popular vaccines in the US were higher in people who had the Moderna shot, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In the US, more than 94 million people have had both Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines compared to 65 million who have had both Moderna shots, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers said the difference could simply be that the second Moderna vaccine is, on average, administered one week later than the Pfizer vaccine.
The second vaccine of Moderna is typically given four weeks after the first shot, while the second Pfizer vaccine is administered three weeks following the first shot.
The study compared the antibody levels of close to 1,600 Belgian health workers, of whom 688 were vaccinated with Moderna and 959 had Pfizer-BioNTech.
The results showed Moderna’s vaccine created twice as many antibodies as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
But scientists still do not know whether having more antibodies means someone is any less likely to contract or spread the virus.
“I would urge caution in making the conclusion that because Moderna demonstrated a slightly higher peak on average that its efficacy will be slower to wane,” Emory University biostatistician David Benkeser told Bloomberg.
“Such a conclusion requires a host of assumptions that have not yet been evaluated.”
Studies have shown even relatively low levels of antibodies are protective.