Clinical trials of vaccine for Covid-19 variants to start ‘very soon’: Reports

Researchers are now developing a vaccine that can protect people from all variants of the novel coronavirus, The Guardian has reported.

One of the potential solutions being explored by the researchers is to target both spike protein and the N protein of the coronavirus.

“There is no indication that any of the new virus variants that have appeared recently cause more severe disease than the original virus,” said Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist at Nottingham University, to the Observer.

He added: “However, there is evidence that some of these new variants may be better at infecting and, therefore, spreading in populations that have existing partial immunity, following natural infection or vaccination.”

The Guardian report revealed that vaccine development has reached the eventual stages, where the manufacture of the new vaccine has begun.

Ball hopes that with this, the clinical trials of the vaccine could be initiated soon.

Another approach to develop vaccines against variants

Another approach to update the vaccine is to induce an extra dose of antibodies in the nose and throat. This approach is being explored by researchers at Bristol University.

To achieve this, the researchers are measuring antibody levels in the mucosal secretions of people who have received different vaccines against the disease.