RE: New Covid variant19 Dec 2023 20:04
"Jackdaw, if the current vaccines had a strong memory effect, we wouldn't need an annual booster." First, the immune memory is how vaccinations work at all, so existing vaccines obviously stimulate memory T-cells. How strong? Well, the issue with renewed annual shots is not necessarily the loss of immune memory, although it could be, but more usually the incessant mutation of the virus. If the mutation is sufficiently diverse then the memory of the previous version is only of so much use. Obviously, we hope that Scancell's vaccines will be less conservative in their targetting of antigen!