Study reveals why second vaccine dose of Covid is important (Representational image)
A new study of antibodies produced in saliva following the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows the importance of updating second vaccine doses and vaccines to combat new forms of concern. The study showed that the number of antibodies and protection produced by vaccination increased significantly after a second dose of vaccine was given, indicating the importance of receiving a second dose.
The team, including Nicole Schneiderhan-Mara at the University of Tübingen, also investigated whether it offered protection against alpha and beta variants.
They found that while there was no reduction in neutralizing antibodies against the alpha variant, neutralizing antibodies against the beta variant were significantly reduced, as presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
To see how the protection offered by the vaccine changed for different types, the team first profiled the antibodies generated by the vaccination and then examined their neutralizing ability.
In addition to antibodies circulating within the blood, they checked for the presence of antibodies in saliva as a “first line of defence.”
To do this, they adapted a previously developed assay that measures antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses present in the blood, to include targets from the types of concern, and to look specifically at neutralizing antibodies.
They collected samples from 23 vaccinated individuals (ages 26-58, 22 percent female) who were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine after the first and second doses.
For the control groups, the team collected samples from 35 infected blood donors, 27 infected saliva donors and 49 non-infected salivary donors and also control blood and saliva samples obtained commercially before the onset of the pandemic from different age groups .
Looking at the saliva, they saw that a larger amount of antibodies were present in vaccinated individuals than in infected individuals, suggesting that vaccination not only provides protection against becoming infected, but that if you do become infected, Reduces the chances of you transmitting it to others.
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