Researchers to develop 'all-in-one' vaccine as mutations of COVID-19 continue to threaten

With new variants of COVID-19 emerging every other week, it has become clear that the threat posed by this virus will linger in society for a long time. The symptoms of this virus vary from people to people. Dr Luke Pratsides, frontline worker and lead GP at men's health clinic Numan told Express.co.uk that most people who are affected with the deadly virus, tend to experience one of the milder symptoms-fever, cough and loss of sense of smell. However, people can also develop more severe and even life-threatening illnesses. 

'All-in-one' vaccine 

Therefore, researchers have now shifted their focus to the development of ‘all-in-one’ vaccine shots that would resolve the threat of fast-spreading mutations. As of now, new variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been discovered in the UK, Brazil, Africa and Japan, but experts have pointed out that there might be other mutations hidden from the human eye. To tackle the same, scientists are now focusing on shots capable of targeting and neutralizing multiple versions of the lethal pathogen.

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One particular mutation of the virus from South Africa, named B.1.351. has already shown resistance to vaccine jabs developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Meanwhile, other developers- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have announced that they're starting work on developing booster shots or other efforts to bolster their vaccines. As mutations continue to blunt the optimism, the British government announced its collaboration with CureVac NV to develop shots that would tackle novel COVID variants. 

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All the current vaccines induce the immune system to produce antibodies that recognize and target the spike protein on the virus, which is essential for invading human cells. A single change in the spike protein – which is the region of the virus that attaches to human cells – is probably not going to be a big threat as the medical community rolls out the vaccines. However, scientists have observed the accumulation of multiple changes in the spike protein in the South African variant, making it resistant.

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 (Image Credits: Pixabay)