A U.S. laboratory study suggests that T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the novel coronavirus appear to provide protection against three of the concerning new virus variants as well.

The study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) assessed blood samples from 30 individuals who had recovered from COVID-19 prior to the emergence of the new variants. Investigators identified a specific form of T cell from these samples that was active against the virus, and analyzed how these T cells worked against the new variants from South Africa, the UK and Brazil. The T-cell responses remained intact to a great extent and were able to identify all mutations in the variants that were assessed. The paper, accepted for publication in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, remains to be peer reviewed… (Reuters, March 31, 2021)