T cell-boosting jab delivers superior immune response

A NEW vaccine designed to help people create T-cells to ward off Covid-19 produces a better immune response than the alternatives already in use, research suggests.

The jab, called Covac-1, developed by the University of Tübingen in Germany, produces 3.5 times as many T-cells as the Pfizer/biontech jab and 20 times as many as Astrazeneca.

T-cells, which can stay in the bloodstream for several years, are becoming of increasing interest to vaccine makers and clinicians as a way to further protect people against coronavirus.

Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of Astrazeneca, said: “The antibody response is what drives the immediate reaction or defence of the body when you’re attacked by the virus and the T-cell response takes a little longer to come in but it’s actually more durable, it lasts longer and the body remembers that longer.

“T cells do matter and in particular as it relates to the durability of the response, especially in older people.”

The research, published in the journal Nature, also found that the vaccine-induced T-cell responses were unaffected by current Covid variants of concern.

Phase one trial data from 36 people who received the experimental jab in the early part of this year showed the vaccine to be safe.

Although the study is small, the results are promising as nobody in the trial tested positive for Covid in the three months after their T-cell jab.

The scientists say the new vaccine’s T-cell response “surpassed those detected after SARS-COV-2 infection as well as after vaccination with approved vaccines”.

The team suggest their vaccine, administered with an injection in the stomach, would make for an effective complementary inoculation, particularly for the elderly and immunocompromised, alongside the currently approved jabs.

T-cells form part of the immune response to protect people against infections, and often work in tandem with antibodies. However, while antibody levels often decline over time and need boosting, T-cells have the ability to stay in the bloodstream for years.