A Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 booster could be made available to long-term care residents and healthcare providers, as well as the rest of the American public, after the company unveiled promising results Wednesday about its effectiveness. 

The company reported its booster shot, given months after a single-dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, provided a “rapid and robust” increase in antibodies that fight the virus. Johnson & Johnson did not release full data publicly, but it said the booster dose generated a response nine-fold higher than that seen 28 days after the primary single-dose vaccination.

“Significant increases” were seen in patients between ages 18 and 55, and those 65 and older. 

“We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent through eight months,” Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., the company’s global head of research, said of the findings Wednesday. “We look 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.”

The company now plans to submit its findings to the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a quest to receive authorization for booster shots, the New York Times reported Wednesday. 

Long-term care residents will be among the first to receive booster shots of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine once distribution begins in September, federal officials announced earlier this month.

A July study found that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine prompted a “strong neutralizing antibody response” lasting at least eight months. Data also showed the vaccine generates “persistent activity” against the delta variant, which has led to several new outbreaks in nursing homes across the country.