Looking to a time beyond the development of COVID vaccines, researchers are attempting to determine how long the SARS-CoV-2 virus will take to develop resistance to those vaccines.
David Kennedy, assistant professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University said, “A COVID-19 vaccine is urgently needed to save lives and help society return to its pre-pandemic normal,” said David Kennedy, assistant professor of biology. “As we have seen with other diseases, such as pneumonia, the evolution of resistance can quickly render vaccines ineffective. By learning from these previous challenges and by implementing this knowledge during vaccine design, we may be able to maximise the long-term impact of COVID-19 vaccines.”
The researchers recommend that vaccines be designed to create multiple immune responses, making it harder for the vaccine to survive the immune system’s attack, much the way multiple antibiotics are used to suppress bacterial infections, by forcing the virus to have multiple mutations to survive.
Strongly suppressing virus transmission through the host is key to minimising the amount of mutation and thereby the lifespan of the vaccine’s effectiveness.
“According to the World Health Organization, at least 198 COVID-19 vaccines are in the development pipeline, with 44 currently undergoing clinical evaluation,” said Kennedy. “We suggest that the risk of resistance be used to prioritise investment among otherwise similarly promising vaccine candidates.”
Source: SciTech Daily
