RNA vaccines are highly efficacious; however, there is still a wide gap in research when it comes to their understanding, especially the way in which they induce immunity responses in the human body. A new study might help bridge this gap as it undertook the task of investigating the effect of the vaccine, marketed by Pfizer Inc., has on the immune response.
The research finding suggests that a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine induces a significant boost to the specific part of the immune system that is responsible for providing broad antiviral protection. The new study and evidence provided therein would be a huge contribution to the existing controversies surrounding the number of doses worldwide as the researchers demonstrate the need for a second dose is A important dose, and it cannot be skipped.
The Pfizer vaccine works quite differently from the classical ones as they were comprised of carbohydrates, live and dead pathogens, individual proteins that make the immune system focus on a specific microbe and wipe it out. On the other hand, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are comprised of genetic recipes for spike protein manufacture, the protein that SARS-CoV-2 makes use of to latch on cells and infect them.
In their experiments, the researchers made the following discoveries –
a. That the first shot increases SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody levels; however, its efficacy is not as much as the amount induced by the second dose. Moreover, the second dose has the ability to do things that the first dose cannot. Thus, it has powerful and beneficial effects that greatly exceed the first dose.
b. The second dose stimulates a high increase in antibody levels. An amazing T-cell response that the first dose is unable to induce.
c. The second dose also enhances the innate immune response of a body.
d. The vaccine collectively successfully causes massive mobilization of first responder cells, a new group of cells that are usually scarce and quiescent.
The team found in their research that the special group of monocytes is a part of the innate museum and only constitutes 0.01% of all circulating blood cells before vaccination. But once the second dose is taken, their numbers increase by 100 times, coming to 1% of all blood cells. Furthermore, their disposition also changes, and they become less inflammatory while getting more intensely antiviral. They seemed to be uniquely capable of broadly protecting all the different types of viral infections.
After the success of this research, researchers involved believe that the cells might even come to hold action against other viruses, including COVID-19. However, there is still huge research required; nonetheless, the present research may become the laying foundation for more studies in this regard and leading to further development of vaccines.