People looking to get an additional COVID-19 vaccine need not worry about which manufacturer the vaccine is from: Many shot combinations will provide strong protection, according to a large new study.
By comparing vaccines from seven different manufacturers, British researchers found that most of them elicited strong immune responses.
It’s too early for researchers to tell how well the various vaccine boosters will work against the new Omicron strain, which has mutations that allow it to avoid the antibodies produced by the vaccines.
All of the 2,878 volunteers first received two shots of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.
The researchers then tested seven different vaccines as boosters: Together with AstraZeneca and Pfizer, they tried three others that were approved in different countries: Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Novavax.
They also tried out two shots that hadn’t been approved anywhere before: the CureVac mRNA vaccine and the Valneva vaccine, made from inactivated coronaviruses.
And some of the volunteers received the meningitis vaccine as a booster.
Four weeks later, the researchers collected blood samples from the volunteers and measured their antibody levels. They also examined immune cells known as T cells that attack others infected with the coronavirus.
The level of antibodies and T cells was higher in people who received the booster vaccine for COVID-19 compared to those who received the meningitis vaccine.
The new study also showed that the antibodies produced can kill the coronavirus at the onset of infection, and in the airways, T cells can provide protection.
Most of the boosters used in the study raised antibody levels to levels equivalent to at least 90% protection against infection.
However, the researchers have not yet studied how booster enhancers act on Omicron, since the study of a new strain is just beginning.
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