4. T cell epitopes in natural infection? The analysis of the full proteome here show that on average 98% of CD8 and 95% of CD4 epitopes are totally conserved.

Today on #TheJournal: @deniseroland on whether we'll need a new vaccine to fight the Omicron variant open.spotify.com/episode/6zoJMZ…

T cells are ruthless killers that thrive on gore. And where antibodies falter, they might come to the rescue, Katherine J. Wu, Ph.D. reports. on.theatln.tc/2M6yG8Z

4/ MOST IMPORTANTLY, cases who go on to experience a breakthrough infection had significantly lower levels of anti-Spike serum IgA at 2 weeks post dose 2 (which correlates with saliva IgA) whereas we did not see a difference between cases and controls for IgG.

6/ Take-home message: We need to boost in a manner that ups IgA levels since this is what correlates with protection against breakthrough. Maybe that’s obvious to many of you, but it’s gratifying to see it prove true in a real world setting.

Is IgA a better correlate of protection than IgG? Is there a way we can predict who has sustained protection from infection after vaccination or previous infection and who does not? Maybe this is a wake-up call that we should be optimizing vaccination to maximize for secreted IgA

Very good point Michal Tal, PhD. This cannot be stressed enough: we should be optimizing vaccines for mucosal immunity

I am betting on #sIgA as the path out of this pandemic! #MucosalVaccines

$VXRT to begin testing the cross-reactivity of its oral tablet #COVID19 vaccines against the #Omicron variant. Learn more here: bit.ly/3m6qeBO

This new paper co-authored by Dr. Fauci calls for prioritizing development of an universal coronavirus vaccine similar to the universal flu vaccine that Vaxart has been developing in partnership with Johnson and Johnson. I couldn’t agree any more. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

Importantly, we found that antibodies elicited by the 2021-2022 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine poorly neutralize the new 2a2 H3N2 clade. 55% of vaccinees had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibodies against 2a2 H3N2 after vaccination. 6/10

Just a little much needed humor for the followers 😆

"The threat of Disease X has been at the top of CEPI’s priority list since our formation in 2017. It is was this focus that enabled us to respond so quickly to COVID-19 in Jan, 2020. How can we use our learnings to tackle future threats? #100DaysMission bit.ly/3yoBheN"

Dr. Sean Tucker: COVID vaccine pill doesn’t need a cold chain, can be stored at room temperature fullcourtgreta.com/video/2021/12/…

Breaking: The The Wall Street Journal highlights how T cell responses from vaccines resulted in “relatively fewer hospitalizations and deaths” from Omicron. The $VXRT vaccine candidate has been shown to elicit a strong T cell response in Phase 1 clinical studies. on.wsj.com/3t8c3Rh

@JoshNBCNews Hello trucker here currently stuck on i95 SB - for all reading if you are stuck and or know someone else stuck in this mess tell them to reach out to any truckers by them for food/ water if needed. We carry extra for situ like this. Plz stay safe and warm.

If you get 3-4 shots of the same thing in 1 year, and you still get infected and transmit the pathogen, then please don’t call it a vaccine. Call it whatever you like, but don’t call it a vaccine.

VaxartNation In case anyone is interested in trying a better solution, please check out Vaxart’s COVID 💊 vaccine & booster. They are currently recruiting 896 participants for the Phase 2 trials. For more information contact: [email protected] or Visit: clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05…

ICYMI: The Guardian talks about the next wave of #COVID19 vaccines in development, including Vaxart’s oral tablet, which fights COVID-19 where it invades: in the mucosa— your nose, mouth and respiratory tract. 💊 bit.ly/3yjQldq