Scientists ramp up work on vaccine that would address every type of coronavirus: report

[nitpicker]

Scientists ramp up work on vaccine that would address every type of coronavirus: report
BY JOSEPH CHOI - 02/09/21 08:18 PM EST 248

Scientists are ramping up research into creating a vaccine that would be effective against all types of coronaviruses as new strains have been reported around the world.

A new report from the New York Times details previous and current efforts to develop a “pancoronavirus” vaccine that would protect against all types of the virus. Past enthusiasm for such a medicine was low as it was commonly believed, before the pandemic, that the coronavirus was not a serious threat and only caused mild colds.
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The Times notes that before the pandemic, a coronavirus vaccine had never been fully developed. The vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines, which do not contain the virus itself but instead the genetic code for creating spikes found on the surface of the vaccine. This genetic data then teaches the immune system to identify and protect against the coronavirus.

However, this shot is largely only effective against the specific coronavirus that is currently plaguing the globe, and the Times notes that researchers are unsure if creating a new vaccine for every new virus is an effective way to proceed.

VBI Vaccines, a company based in Massachusetts, began looking into creating a universal coronavirus vaccine last summer, the Times reports.

The company created a shot that had three spikes from different types of coronavirus and found that not only was the shot effective in mice against all three viruses, but an added fourth virus that they had not intended for. VBI’s chief scientific officer David Anderson told the Times that they are currently unsure how an antibody to the fourth virus was created.
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Dennis Burton and Eric Topol, scientists from the Scripps Research Institute, published an article on Monday appealing for further development of a "pan-virus" vaccine.
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[Chainfire]

1. That is an admiral goal

Fulfill the dream of ending the common cold. There are a lot of makers of over-the-counter cold medicines that will tremble in their boots if that happens.