Nature
-
Anti-contagion policies such as lockdowns averted roughly 530 million coronavirus infections across China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France and the US.
pearl -
Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns, have had a large effect on reducing coronavirus transmission through European countries.
pearl -
Bone marrow plasma cells producing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein likely provide robust and long-lived immunity after mild COVID-19.
pearl -
Observational Study
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines induce persistent human germinal centre responses.
The presence of spike-protein binding B cells in axillary lymph nodes even 15 weeks after Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccination, suggests SARS-CoV-2 protection could last years after immunisation.
pearl -
Here we report on the antibody and memory B cell responses of a cohort of 20 volunteers who received the Moderna (mRNA-1273) or Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine against SARS-CoV-21-4. Eight weeks after the second injection of vaccine, volunteers showed high levels of IgM and IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) and receptor-binding-domain (RBD) binding titre. Moreover, the plasma neutralizing activity and relative numbers of RBD-specific memory B cells of vaccinated volunteers were equivalent to those of individuals who had recovered from natural infection5,6. ⋯ However, neutralization by 14 of the 17 most-potent monoclonal antibodies that we tested was reduced or abolished by the K417N, E484K or N501Y mutation. Notably, these mutations were selected when we cultured recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing SARS-CoV-2 S in the presence of the monoclonal antibodies elicited by the vaccines. Together, these results suggest that the monoclonal antibodies in clinical use should be tested against newly arising variants, and that mRNA vaccines may need to be updated periodically to avoid a potential loss of clinical efficacy.