Persistent T cell response to omicron after infection and vaccination

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In a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, researchers found the omicron variant can partly evade the antibody response provided by vaccination or infection with previous variants of SARS-CoV-2.

However, T cells still recognize omicron.

Omicron has rapidly become the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

New data indicate that omicron is not only more infectious than previous variants, it can also infect people with previous immunity by evading what are known as neutralizing antibodies.

Serious disease seems, however, to be relatively uncommon in people who have been vaccinated or infected, suggesting that other components of the immune system are still able to recognize omicron.

The new study shows that so-called memory T cells formed following previous infection or mRNA vaccination also respond to the omicron variant.

The study is based on blood samples from 40 vaccinated individuals, 48 individuals who had had a mild or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 48 individuals who had previously been neither vaccinated nor infected.

The samples from the vaccinated group were collected six months after their second vaccine dose, and from the previously infected group nine months after confirmed infection in the spring of 2020, prior to the emergence of the new viral variants.

Other samples were taken from healthy donors at the end of 2020.

The team found memory T cells in both the experimental groups displayed a good ability to recognize the omicron spike protein; the best response, however, was observed in the vaccinated group.

These results suggest that booster immunization may provide benefits that extend beyond the induction of neutralizing antibodies to enhance protection against recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19.

Even though the memory T-cell response was generally intact against omicron, some individuals did not respond as well.

Researchers now want to understand why the response differs from one individual to the next and if a third vaccine dose can augment the T cell response to omicron even more.

If you care about Covid, please read studies about the cause of severe disease and death in COVID-19, and findings of most effective face-mask practices to reduce spread of COVID-19.

For more information about health, please see recent studies about new chewing gum that could reduce COVID-19 transmission, and results showing that COVID-19 virus has a link with Parkinson’s disease.

The study is published in Nature Medicine. One author of the study is Marcus Buggert.

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