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With omicron having rapidly driven up COVID infections, attention is once again focusing on antibodies, and reasonably so. They play a critical role in fighting off viruses and are important for preventing the coronavirus infecting our cells. This is why some countries have mounted booster campaigns in response to recent COVID surges 鈥� to top antibody levels up.

But there鈥檚 a problem. COVID antibodies don鈥檛 鈥� hence the desire for boosters. Indeed, while these extra jabs maintain against severe COVID, it鈥檚 estimated that people receiving a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine will see their protection against developing COVID symptoms (of any degree) 75% to 45% over the ten weeks following their booster. Scientists have whether topping up antibodies, only to see them soon fade away, is sustainable.

If we want to develop lasting immunity to COVID, it鈥檚 perhaps time to look again at our wider immune response. Antibodies are just one part of our intricate and intertwined immune system. Specifically, it鈥檚 maybe time we focused on T cells.

How different immune cells work

When the body is infected, say with a virus, it responds by producing white blood cells called lymphocytes. The are B cells, which make antibodies, and T cells, which either support B cell antibody production or act as killer cells to destroy the virus. Some T cells and B cells also become long-lasting memory cells that know what to do if they meet the same infection again.

B cells and T cells 鈥渟ee鈥� the virus in different ways. Generally speaking, B cells recognise shapes on the outside of the virus, creating antibodies that will lock on to those (a bit like two jigsaw pieces that match). T cells instead recognise bits of the amino acids that build the virus, including bits that might normally be found inside it.

Every virus has lots of unique features, both inside and out. A person鈥檚 immune response can end up making a variety of T cells and B cells that between them target a whole range of these features. This is sometimes called 鈥渂readth of response鈥�. A good breadth of response has lots of different lymphocytes that see different parts of the virus, making it very tricky for the virus to completely hide from them.

Omicron because a key part of its external structure that鈥檚 targeted by antibodies 鈥� the (in red in the picture above) 鈥� is heavily mutated, lessening the ability of antibodies to bind to the virus and neutralise it. However, because T cells focus on other parts of the virus, such mutations might not stop them from identifying it.

Indeed, , which is still awaiting review, suggests this is the case. This is reassuring, because the virus鈥檚 spike protein has changed a lot during the pandemic, suggesting that it could always be mutating away from the reach of antibodies. T cells, though, should be less susceptible to viral mutation. T cells designed to fight COVID also appear to be in the human body than antibodies.

But do T cells have a strong effect?

We already know a lot about the of T cells in other viral infections. This knowledge suggests that, against COVID, a good T cell response is not only needed to help B cells produce antibodies but should also create killer T cells that can broadly recognise the coronavirus, protecting against multiple variants.

Evidence directly on COVID and T cells is still being gathered. However, it鈥檚 gradually becoming clearer that T cells do seem to play a big role in COVID.

Research has shown that generating that recognise a range of viral features with a strong response against the disease. Generating good amounts of broadly reactive killer T cells in particular seems to make COVID .

Conversely, a poor T cell response with worse outcomes for patients. Indeed, some people who have had severe COVID have been found to have in their T cell response.

A common feature of many of the studies demonstrating the effectiveness of T cells in COVID is the need for a wide breadth of response 鈥� having T cells (and B cells) that recognise multiple features of the virus. It鈥檚 thought that this could be the key to experiencing milder disease.

This breadth might even extend beyond this coronavirus specifically. The COVID virus is a betacoronavirus, and there are several betacoronaviruses that already infect us, including ones that cause the common cold. Shared features between these cold-causing viruses and COVID may mean that T cells we already had against the cold against COVID now. in both and is being uncovered.

What does this mean for vaccines?

Many of the vaccines designed to date 鈥� including Moderna鈥檚, Pfizer鈥檚 and AstraZeneca鈥檚 鈥� have focused on just one major target on the coronavirus: its spike protein. These vaccines have been tremendously effective at generating antibodies. They also stimulate a T cell response to the spike.

But now that we understand more about the role of T cells, the importance of having a broad T cell response, and the issue of antibodies waning, perhaps we should consider refocusing our vaccine strategies on generating T cells and on targeting more than just one protein.

Work is moving in this direction. of that can trigger much more broadly reactive helper and killer T cell responses have been completed, and several other are also .

These T cell vaccines may be the key to boosting existing immunity and generating long-lived protection against severe disease from a whole range of COVID variants. If so, they would be a huge part of the world living more safely with COVID.

, Professor in Biomedical Sciences,

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