Spike protein vaccines may help fight Covid variants: IIT-M study

Spike protein vaccines may be effective against multiple variants of the coronavirus (SARS COV-2), according to a study by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The spike protein is one of the four major proteins found in coronaviruses; it helps the SarsCoV-2 virus latch on to a host cell and, in turn, infect the body eventually.

- SHINE JACOB

The results of the study suggest that the threat from the selected variants Delta plus, Gamma, Zeta, Mink and Omicron - may be dealt with by vaccine-induced T cell responses in spite of having compromised neutralising antibodies. T cells are white blood cells, which work in several ways to help protect us from diseases like Covid-19. Early research seems to suggest that these cells may induce long-term immunity against the disease.

While further experimental verification is called for, the researchers believe that the present spike protein vaccinations are likely to be efficacious against circulating variants of coronavirus. The researchers set out to find out what would be the response like if the post-vaccination infections were caused by a variant other than the original Wuhan strain incorporated in vaccine preparations.