A large new study shows that many combinations of shots are likely to provide strong protection for people who get a booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech elicited the largest responses from the immune system when compared to seven different vaccine brands. The study was published in The Lancet.
Merry Voysey, a statistician at the University of Oxford, was not involved in the study. There are a lot of excellent boosting options for third doses.
It is too soon for researchers to say how well different vaccine boosters will work against the new Omicron variant, which has a few quirks that may allow it to evade some of the antibodies produced by existing Covid-19 vaccines. Some researchers think that people would need a high level of antibodies to protect against it.
All of the study's volunteers received two shots of the vaccine. Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have vaccine approvals in the United States.
The researchers tested seven different vaccines and tried three brands that have been authorized in various countries. They tried two shots that were not authorized, one from CureVac and the other from Valneva. Some of the volunteers received a vaccine.
After four weeks, the researchers collected blood samples from the volunteers. They looked for immune cells that specifically attack other cells that have the coronaviruses.
People who received a Covid-19 booster shot had higher levels of antibodies and T cell than people who got the vaccine. The range was large. The people who got the Valneva booster saw a 30 percent increase above the control group. A Moderna booster produced a huge increase.
Boosters increased T cells that recognize the coronaviruses. When the coronaviruses is colonizing the nose, the antibodies may be good at knocking them out. T cells may provide a second line of defense in the airway.
The trial didn't follow the volunteers to see how well the shots worked. In recent months, researchers have shown that measuring antibody levels can be a good way of predicting the effectiveness of a vaccine.
Most of the boosters used in the study were able to raise the level of protection against infections. Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines produced higher levels of antibody than the other vaccines did.
Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at the University of Edinburgh who was not involved in the new study, said that having an mRNA booster is probably a good idea.
Other scientists said that most of the other vaccines performed well enough that people should feel comfortable getting them as well.
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Biden has a winter plan. As Omicron reaches the U.S., President Biden announced a new strategy that includes hundreds of family-centered vaccination sites, booster shots for all adults, new testing requirements for international travelers and insurance reimbursement for at- home tests.
Experts have differing views on boosters. Many public health experts have opposed plans to give Covid booster shots to all adults. As Omicron gains ground, researchers are changing their minds and now believe that the shots may be the best defense against the new variant.
Saul Faust, an infectious disease expert at the University ofSouthampton and a co-author of the study, said that if your country only has one of the vaccines that we have shown can boost, that will be fine to use as a booster. It isn't all about mRNA.
John Moore, who was not involved in the study, said that people shouldn't make too much out of the small differences in vaccines.
He doesn't think it's a beauty contest, in the sense of which one is slightly higher than another We can't afford to be too precious about this.
The new study could give public health officials confidence to use different vaccines for boosters, depending on which was most convenient. Novavax and Johnson & Johnson make vaccines that can be kept in the fridge.
The researchers did not measure the boosters against the new variant. Omicron was discovered last month and has raised serious concerns among researchers. A booster that is 90 percent effective might not do as well against Omicron.
It's not known how much worse it is. Scientists need to figure out how to grow the variant in the laboratory before they start experimenting on Omicron. The trial volunteers' blood samples will be sent to British government labs to be analysed to see how well their boosted immune cells work against Omicron. Dr. Faust thinks we will see those results in a few weeks.
Stanley Plotkin is a vaccine expert and University of Pennsylvania professor. The universal vaccine against any coronaviruses could be a more challenging approach, he said.
If Omicron escapes the original virus and the current variant, then we have to have a different philosophy.
