According to a study published in the journal Nature, updated COVID booster shots are important for building up population immunity as new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are emerging. Breakthrough infections are caused by antibodies reduced ability to identify and neutralize new variations, which is the direct opposite of how well they performed against the initial strain. Hence, the obvious solution is to update the vaccines to target new variants.

In the study, researchers showed that it is possible to design a variant-specific booster that strengthens the antibodies already present in the body while also stimulating the production of new antibodies. The researchers stated that periodically giving boosters will help in increasing the immunity among the people, and it will be maintained even as the virus evolves. These boosters can help engage memory cells that are already present in the body instead of creating new ones.

For the study, the researchers looked at 39 people who had received the two-shot primary sequence of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, followed by an experimental booster shot targeting the beta and delta variants.

The findings of the study showed that all the participants produced new antibodies that neutralized the original virus strain and the beta and delta variants but were specific to the beta or delta variant. This indicates that the variant booster had failed to trigger the development of detectable new antibody-producing cells.

Eight more participants received the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccination booster that is only designed to protect against the Omicron variant. The researchers identified more than 300 distinct antibodies capable of neutralizing the original strain or one or more of the variants.

 (Source: https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1067030 )