Vaccines versus the Mutants

The optimistic mood around COVID-19 vaccine rollouts has been clouded by new variants of the virus, which could trample the efficacy of vaccines or escape them entirely. Already, recent trial results from Johnson & Johnson and from Novavax suggest that a variant that first arose in South Africa (B.1.351) and probably a variant identified in Brazil (P.1) are partially escaping protection provided by their vaccines.

Specifically, mutations in the viruses’ spike proteins allow them to avoid being bound by antibodies produced after vaccination or natural infection. “The South African variant appears to partially escape antibody responses,” says Dan Barouch, the director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. With novel variants expected to emerge, the question is, which vaccines would be quickest to rejig and manufacture if updates become necessary? 

A few vaccine makers have already announced that they are gearing up for second generation vaccines. “It may not be necessary, but is probably good insurance to buy right now,” says immunologist Alessandro Sette of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology.

Of the common approaches to design or redesign a vaccine, mRNA vaccines are the most expeditious. They pack the genetic recipe for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inside a nanoparticle, which is engulfed by cells that then manufacture the protein and tutor the immune system to recognize it. “They are using chemically synthesized mRNA. There’s no cells needed, so it is so much quicker to make and then purify,” says immunologist Sarah Caddy of the University of Cambridge.

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