New vaccines must help fight not only the original Coronavirus strain but also new variants
Omicron may not look life-threatening as of date, but its ability to infect both the fully vaccinated people as well as those who have antibodies owing to a prior infection is a cause for worry. For, it could be that the next Coronavirus mutation may retain the ease of transmission but, unlike Omicron, could prove deadlier than Delta plus. Then what? Secondly, what happens when supposing the Governments keep recommending booster shots to face new variants and scientific studies show that repeated boosters of the same vaccine reduce their efficiency? Even if scientists one day prove that a mix-and-match of vaccines is effective, a question arises: Which vaccine should be preferred — and why — for the third, booster shot? Even though Omicron is beginning to spread furiously across the world, and in India, we are yet to make it mandatory for the States to send all positive cases for genome sequencing, quickly decide on vaccinating children and, more importantly, inform the nation about the scientific community’s progress in finding the next-generation vaccine. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Parliament last week that the science laboratories have already initiated a study of the Omicron variant. That assurance apart, the Government needs to share the current status of our vaccine research with people. Across the world, the race is on to experiment with new vaccine combinations and emerging vaccine platforms to find the one vaccine that can stand up not just to Omicron but possibly future variants of Coronavirus.
A simple logic appears to drive the vaccine research globally: Nobody will escape this virus eventually and, therefore, either the world comes up with an all-purpose vaccine for the entire population or helplessly watches it get infected. The US and Spain have experimented with a vaccine combo. Research shows that vaccinating people with two vaccines, either Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech or the Spanish CombivacS and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has thrown up encouraging results. Many countries are testing next-gen vaccine platforms like viral vector vaccines and nucleic acid-based vaccines that can consist of the DNA or mRNA. The Americans are finding out how to create and distribute synthetic antibodies to pre-emptively prevent a spread. A most important breakthrough may shortly come from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research that is developing a vaccine to help fight not only the original Coronavirus strain but also the new variants, including Omicron. Named the Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine, or SpFN, it has completed animal trials and the first phase of human trials. Apparently, the vaccine is being tested against Omicron, too. It is being described as a ‘pan-Coronavirus’ vaccine which takes the nanoparticle approach wherein different Coronaviruses are placed on the same vaccine so that the immune system simultaneously ‘educates’ itself about their presence. Given its unpredictability, the idea is to stay a step ahead of the virus; chasing variants after they emerge means staying behind.