A new COVID-19 vaccine aims to stop the entire novel coronavirus — not just provide antibodies to stop the spike protein of the virus.
Per Al Jazeera, French pharmaceutical company Valneva has created a COVID-19 vaccine that “stimulates an immune response to the entire virus, and that might just give it an edge over its competitors.”
- Currently, other coronavirus vaccines create “an immune response that targets just the spike protein of the coronavirus,” according to Al Jazeera.
- “It is different in that it uses the tried and tested method of taking the whole of the coronavirus and inactivating it so that it can no longer cause illness. It then combines with an adjuvant, a substance that helps it enter human cells effectively,” Al Jazeera reports.
- This is similar to the vaccines used for flu and polio.
The vaccine has been making headlines for successful trials. The vaccine reportedly provided more protection against COVID-19 compared to the AstraZeneca vaccine in a clinical trial, which led the company to prepare for approval from European regulators, according to Bloomberg.
Scientists are working hard to find new ways to stop the coronavirus. As I wrote for the Deseret News, researchers from Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discovered an antibody that could stop COVID-19 and other coronavirus variants.