Can covid vaccines protect against diseases caused by omicron? What does the new study say

Research published Monday in the journal Nature showed that vaccines induce this protection through cellular immunity, or the production of protective immune cells, such as so-called killer and memory cells.

Cellular immunity protects against severe COVID-19 disease, despite the Omicron variant’s evasion of neutralizing antibodies, the researchers said.

The team from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Israel assessed samples from 47 individuals vaccinated with either Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer-BioNtech.

“Our data provide immunological context for the observation that current vaccines still provide strong protection against serious illness and hospitalization, due to the Omicron variant, by significantly reducing antibody responses and increasing breakthrough infections. Regardless,” said corresponding author Dan H. Baruch.

The researchers used samples from uninfected individuals who had received vaccines from Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer.

They measured CD8 T cell and CD4 T cell responses to the original, delta and omicron strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus one month after and again eight months after the last vaccination.

Both CD4 and CD8 cells, also known as T cells, are white blood cells that fight infection and play important roles in the immune system.

The team also assessed antibody responses to the variants over another eight months. Consistent with previous studies, the scientists observed minimal cross-reactive omicron-specific neutralizing antibodies.

In contrast, the data suggested that oomicron-specific CD8 T cell responses were more than 80 percent cross-reactive compared to the CD8 T cell response to the original strain of virus.

Similarly, more than 80 percent of oomicron-specific CD4 T cells exhibited cross-reactivity, although responses can vary between individuals, the researchers noted.

“Given the role of CD8 T cells in the clearance of viral infection, it is likely that cellular immunity contributes significantly to vaccine protection against severe SARS-CoV-2 disease,” said Barouch, whose team at Johnson & Johnson Involved in vaccine development. ,

“This may be particularly relevant for omicrons that dramatically evade neutralizing antibody responses,” he said.

A highly mutated version of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the Omicron variant has been shown to cause successful infection among immunizations.

This is due to its ability to evade virus-killing neutralizing antibodies that the body makes in response to vaccination. PTI sir saree

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.