How would COVID-19 vaccine makers adapt to variants?
By modifying their vaccines, a process that should be easier than coming up with the original photos.
Viruses constantly mutate as they spread, and most of the changes are insignificant. First-generation COVID-19 vaccines seem to work against today’s variants, but makers are already taking steps to update their prescriptions if health authorities decide it’s necessary.
Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are made with new technology that can be easily updated. The so-called mRNA vaccines use a piece of genetic code for the spike protein that envelops the coronavirus so that your immune system can learn to recognize and fight the real thing.
If a variant with a mutated spike protein emerged that the original vaccine can’t recognize, companies would trade that piece of genetic code for a better match – if and when regulators decide it’s necessary.
Updating other COVID-19 vaccines can be more complex. For example, the AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless version of a cold virus to deliver that spike protein gene into the body. An update requires growing cold viruses with the updated spike gene.
The Food and Drug Administration said studies of updated COVID-19 vaccines do not need to be as large or lengthy as for first-generation shots. Instead, a few hundred volunteers could receive experimental doses of a renewed vaccine and have their blood checked for signs that it is reviving both the immune system and the original vaccines.
It is more difficult to decide whether the virus has changed enough to modify shots.
Health authorities worldwide will monitor mutations in the coronavirus to detect vaccine-resistant mutations. They should also decide whether a renewed vaccine should protect against more than one variant.
Overall, the process would be similar to what is already happening with a flu vaccine. Influenza viruses mutate much faster than coronaviruses, so flu shots are adjusted every year and must protect against multiple strains.
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