Vaccine Breakthrough Could Finally Bring COVID to Its Knees

[Celerity]

A new discovery in the fight against COVID could lead to a long-lasting vaccine that works on all variants of the ever-mutating virus.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/scientists-make-breakthrough-in-developing-a-new-vaccine-that-could-finally-beat-covid



With new COVID variants and subvariants evolving faster and faster, each chipping away at the effectiveness of the leading vaccines, the hunt is on for a new kind of vaccine—one that works equally well on current and future forms of the novel coronavirus. Now researchers at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland think they’ve found a new approach to vaccine design that could lead them to a long-lasting jab. As a bonus, it also might work on other coronaviruses, not just the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

The NIH team reported its findings in a peer-reviewed study that appeared in the journal Cell Host & Microbe earlier this month. The key to the NIH’s potential vaccine design is a part of the virus called the “spine helix.” It’s a coil-shaped structure inside the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect our cells.

Lots of current vaccines target the spike protein. But none of them specifically target the spine helix. And yet, there are good reasons to focus on that part of the pathogen. Whereas many regions of the spike protein tend to change a lot as the virus mutates, the spine helix doesn’t. That gives scientists “hope that an antibody targeting this region will be more durable and broadly effective,” Joshua Tan, the lead scientist on the NIH team, told The Daily Beast.

Vaccines that target and “bind,” say, the receptor-binding domain region of the spike protein might lose effectiveness if the virus evolves within that region. The great thing about the spine helix, from an immunological standpoint, is that it doesn’t mutate. At least, it hasn’t mutated yet, three years into the COVID pandemic. So a vaccine that binds the spine helix in SARS-CoV-2 should hold up for a long time. And it should also work on all the other coronaviruses that also include the spine helix—and there are dozens of them, including several such as SARS-CoV-1 and MERS that have already made the leap from animal populations and caused outbreaks in people.

snip

[dchill]

1. That's what I'm talking about!

[republianmushroom]

2. I like it

[OMGWTF]

3. SCIENCE! Your tax dollars at work.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. This would be so great!

[Beachnutt]

5. Better hurry and get it to the public

before the rethugs take over the house, they'll take credit for it.

[wnylib]

11. I don't care if they take credit for it.

My concern is that they would oppose it like they have opposed previous covid vaccines, and try to make it unavailable to the general public.

[geardaddy]

28. That's what I'm worried about!

[NotANeocon]

33. A new grift opportunity.

Deny its use on Dems and charge for Rethug sticks in unending donations to their slush fund.

[agingdem]

15. no they won't..

they'll have to admit scientists/physicians/epidemiologists, like Dr. Fauci, know their jobs and vaccines work..never gonna happen!

[Dorian Gray]

21. Who cares

who takes credit for it. If it can stop people dying, then it's a net positive.

Hope this pans out.

[Marthe48]

6. I hope so

It gives me hope that many of us who are still being careful will be able to enjoy living a little more and be safer if we go out.
Thanks so much for posting!

[Scrivener7]

7. Amazing!

[former9thward]

8. I think the jury is still out.

The materials in the study was based on only 19 people donors. Not much of an experimental pool. Testing was done on "Syrian hamsters". I like my testing done on people.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1931312822005236?via%3Dihub

[FakeNoose]

10. All in good time - I'm sure they're doing it in stages

They won't test it on human volunteers until they know it's reasonably safe. After hamsters they probably move to monkeys or some other mammals.

[UTUSN]

9. K&R

[wnylib]

12. This is great news for those of us who

need to still mask up and avoid some activities due to underlying conditions.

[calimary]

13. Yes it is!

[PlutosHeart]

18. Do not feel shamed into "demasking".

I wear one even though hardly a person in our area does but I have been affected by covid and do everything I can to avoid it and the flu. People get it and some say "oh I is like the flu" yet they seem to ignore all the long term things they are finding out about it. It affects me still.
The last booster made me pretty sick for 5 days. Hope this one is kinder to me if it ever comes out.

[wnylib]

20. Don't worry. I don't feel shamed into

not wearing my mask. I know how serious covid would be for me. It's not shame about wearing a mask that bothers me. It's the fact that there are so many things that I can't do because I need to protect myself. It would be nice to go to a restaurant again. Or to feel safe in large crowds. Or travel. Or to not have to keep buying masks.

So if a new vaccine could give me freedoms that I don't have now, I'd be delighted. But I won't stop wearing a mask until I feel certain that it's safe to do so.

[Dorian Gray]

22. Definitely

hope in the future.

[AZLD4Candidate]

14. You mean praying didn't do it? Science and research did? Well, I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

[Mad_Machine76]

27. +1

[relayerbob]

16. Science!!!

[burrowowl]

17. Very interesting, here's hoping it works!

[SergeStorms]

19. I volunteer for clinical trials. Here! ME, ME.

At a time in my life when I've wanted to travel and see parts of the world I've never seen, I'm too frightened of contracting the Corona virus and slowly dying of asphyxiation.

Jab me. JAB ME . JAB ME!

What a breakthrough this would be.

[ananda]

23. Yes!

I hope it becomes available soon.

[SouthernDem4ever]

24. Will this be the vaccine with Bill Gates' microchip?

I have been waiting for this so I can finally understand how to use Windows and Excel.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Since I received my last jab, I set up my Amex to automatically purchase MS Office, an XBox, and...

…windows on a recurring basis of 5 units each per month. I truly enjoy making these purchases and before the jab I never knew this joy. Thanks for the jab!

[SouthernDem4ever]

34. LOL

[pandr32]

26. Bring it on!

At last--hope!

[LudwigPastorius]

29. A supervaccine?

Do you want zombies? ...because that's how you get zombies.

[Pinback]

30. So...declassifying the virus in your mind doesn't count?

That would be disappointing news for most Americans.

[Shermann]

31. I hope the claims about durability pan out

My concern is that virus mutation is only part of the durability story. The protection offered by the existing vaccines wanes very quickly. There isn't anything in this article that suggests they have addressed (or even understand) the other significant root causes of this.

[Pinback]

32. Protection against *infection* wanes, but not against severe illness.

To me, the really interesting thing about the study mentioned in the OP is this part:

The key to the NIH’s potential vaccine design is a part of the virus called the “spine helix.” It’s a coil-shaped structure inside the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect our cells.

Lots of current vaccines target the spike protein. But none of them specifically target the spine helix. And yet, there are good reasons to focus on that part of the pathogen. Whereas many regions of the spike protein tend to change a lot as the virus mutates, the spine helix doesn’t.

That gives scientists “hope that an antibody targeting this region will be more durable and broadly effective,” Joshua Tan, the lead scientist on the NIH team, told The Daily Beast.

The notion of vaccines' "waning effectiveness" is nuanced, as the information below demonstrates:

Pfizer booster spurs immune response to new omicron subtypes (Nov. 18, 2022)
- https://apnews.com/article/science-health-business-covid-a5ef750ba44ad4ee653122bcf0f311f3

Study: COVID booster effectiveness wanes but remains strong (Feb. 11, 2022)
- https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-science-health-30dab750829aef1a7fc811650210a34f

The Osterholm Update podcast, Episode 117, Nov. 10, 2022:
- https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/ep-117-transcript-2
- Excerpt from podcast, assessment by host Dr. Michael Osterholm of the Univ. of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy:

To understand the whole picture, I want to take a step back and remind us what boosters in general, not just the newest bivalent versions are able to offer. The primary series of vaccination is typically responsible for helping our bodies produce a T cell response that protects us from severe disease and death. We've talked about that, and some of us have experienced how immunity from that primary series wanes over time, resulting in breakthrough infections.

According to a recent study in Science Immunology, our COVID-19 booster doses do not appear to further expand T cell response. However, they do specifically boost antibodies that act specifically against the spike protein. Without diving too deeply into the science of immunology, boosters are playing a very important role overall in keeping our immune system up to date, especially against severe disease.

Now, to improve on the positive effects of the original formulation of these boosters, the bivalent boosters are now proving to be even more effective...Pfizer released additional clinical data this week. In addition, there have been five preprint studies looking at the impact of bivalent boosters in comparison with the original mRNA vaccine formulations. There were some differences across the studies' methodology. However, all six of these studies show that the bivalent booster is at least equally as effective as the original formulation. Four out of the six studies showed a significant increase in the production of neutralizing antibodies against the BA.5 variant compared to the original formulation. In the three studies that compared the bivalent booster to one of our latest variants taking hold in the US, BQ.1.1, the bivalent booster proved more effective than the original formulation.

The one study that assessed effectiveness against BA.2.75.2 a variant we've seen taking off in other areas of the world has also shown to be very promising. Data from the live virus studies show an immune response that was 3 to 4 fold higher than the original formulation. Significant results that make the latest formulation worth celebrating.

Now, again, I want to emphasize one more time that these data are early in terms of the time period from vaccination to assessment. I want to know what they look like, not at 30 days, but at 60 days, 180 days, 365 days. That will be very, very important.

- more at link: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars/episode-117

Note: I am not an immunologist, a virologist, or any kind of medical professional. All I know is what I've learned from experts in these fields.

[electric_blue68]

35. !!!!! 👍🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 Wow, very interesting in how it targets the virus TY Celerity

[Celerity]

36. yw!