COVID-19 vaccines may undergo major overhaul this fall

[onthedarkside]

 

Earlier this year, U.S. regulators settled on a new strategy for COVID-19 vaccines.

 

Like the annual flu shot, the vaccines will be updated each year based on the virus’ evolution, then rolled out in the fall.

 

Accordingly, on 15 June, advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will weigh which strain or strains of SARS-CoV-2 should make up the next iteration of vaccine, so that the agency can greenlight a version for companies to mass-produce.

 

READ MORE

https://www.science.org/content/article/covid-19-vaccines-may-undergo-major-overhaul-fall

 

[TorquayFan]

Darkside - lets hope by the time this vax is widely administered, the variants in the vax are still relevant to the variant ruling in the community . . . 

 

My other reservation is about vax in mRNA format - after side effects after my 4th it's a NO from me ! I'm hopeful that a daily dose of 5000iu vitamin D3 will help ward off another bout of Covid for me.

 

We need better vax than there have been so far - something better - a 2nd Generation. This is one of many such projects : https://www.scancell.co.uk/a-novel-bivalent-dna-vaccine-encoding-both-spike-protein-receptor-binding-domain-and-nucleocapsid-protein-of-sars-cov-2-to-elicit-t-cell-and-neutralising-antibody-responses-that-cross-react-with-variants-1

I'm hoping for a better alternative to arise.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by TorquayFan

[TorquayFan]

Darkside - more about this DNA vax today - "Abstract -

Although the efficacy of vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 is apparent now
that the approved mRNA and adenovirus vector vaccines are in widespread
use, the longevity of the protective immune response and its efficacy
against emerging variants remains to be determined. We have therefore
designed a DNA vaccine encoding both the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-
binding domain (‘RBD’) and nucleocapsid proteins, the latter of which is
highly conserved amongst beta coronaviruses. The vaccine elicits strong
pro-inflammatory CD4+ Th1 and CD8+ T-cell responses to both proteins
in mice and rats, with responses being significantly enhanced by fusing
the nucleocapsid sequence to a modified Fc domain. We have shown that
the vaccine also stimulates high titre antibody responses to RBD in mice
that efficiently neutralise in pseudotype and live virus neutralisation assays
and show cross reactivity with spike proteins from the variants B.1.1.7
(Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta) and B.1.617.2 (Delta). The vaccine also showed
good protection in a viral challenge model in ACE2 receptor transgenic
mice. This DNA platform can be easily adapted to target variant proteins
and we show that a vaccine variant encoding the Beta variant sequence
stimulates cross-reactive humoral and T cell responses. These data support
the translation of this DNA vaccine platform into the clinic, thereby
offering a particular advantage for rapidly targeting emerging SARS-
CoV-2 variants." https://www.scancell.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/media/publications/papers/brentville-et-al-2023.pdf