Scientists assess whether COVID-19 vaccines should be updated for new Omicron variant

Are companies likely to need to create new vaccines to better combat omicron? The answer could be yes if this new variant is shown to be different from the original strain of COVID-19.

The BBC interviewed the microbiologist, Deborah Fuller, who detailed in 5 questions why it is possible that the pharmaceutical need to update their original formulas for vaccines to fight this new strain of coronavirus or against others to come.

Why might vaccines need an update?

Fuller stresses that if the virus has changed enough to admit that the antibodies created by the virus original vaccine may no longer be effective, an update may be required.

She points out that coronaviruses use spike proteins to bind to the surface of human cells and infect them.

“All vaccines of MRNA against him COVID-19 they work by giving instructions in the form of mRNA for cells to produce a harmless version of the spike protein “, he points out.

“If a person is ever exposed to the coronavirus, these antibodies bind to the spike protein and therefore interfere with its ability to infect that person’s cells.” adds.

How would a new vaccine be different?

As detailed by the media, pharmaceutical existing take a protein from spike of the original strain of coronavirus to create the antidotes. If needed, the new or updated vaccine would take one of these omicron proteins.

“By exchanging the genetic code of the original protein for that of this variant, a new vaccine would induce antibodies that bind more effectively to the omicron virus and prevent it from infecting cells”, Says the expert.

It also highlights that people previously infected with other variants of the COVID-19 would need a booster dose of the updated vaccine to fight against omicron. Which would also allow it to be immunized against the other strains.

“And omicron emerges as the dominant strain on delta, those who are not vaccinated would only need to receive between two and three doses of the updated vaccine ”, indicates.

How do scientists update a vaccine?

The BBC points out that to update or create a new vaccine, two ingredients are needed: the genetic sequence of the spike protein of a new variant of interest (omicron or others) and a DNA template that would be used to construct the MRNA.

It would be appropriate to create a template ADN for the protein that would be used to make the MRNA of the new vaccines.

“To do this, the researchers mix templates of ADN with synthetic enzymes and the four molecular building blocks that make up mRNA: G, A, T, and C for short”, indica Fuller a la BBC.

After this step, the enzymes build a copy of MRNA of the template ADN. It would only take a few minutes to produce a batch of the MRNA for vaccines.

How long will it be until there is a new vaccine?

It takes just three days to generate the DNA template needed for a new vaccine of MRNA. After this time, laboratories take at least a week to produce enough doses for testing.

About six weeks will be extra for preclinical testing on human cells.

In about 52 days, scientists could have a vaccine of MRNA Up-to-date ready to connect to the manufacturing process and perform human testing.

“That trial will likely require at least another few weeks, which would add up to a total of around 100 days to update and test a new vaccine.”, indicates the microbiologist.

Does an updated vaccine need full clinical trials?

The report notes that it is not yet clear how much clinical data would be needed to obtain authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA for its acronym in English).

Due to the similarities in their formulation, the tests should not be as extensive as those that were done at the beginning of the pandemic. What would be rigorous is that these doses require safety tests and confirmation of the levels of antibodies compared against the B strainsand and Delta.

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