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The quest for a universal coronavirus vaccine
As vaccine makers rush to stamp out new Covid-19 variants, some scientists are aiming for a universal coronavirus vaccine that could tackle any future strains.
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A GSK employee is at work at the factory of British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Wavre on February 8, 2021 where the Covid-19 CureVac vaccine was produced. (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD )
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s vaccine makers rush to stamp out new Covid-19 variants, some scientists have set their sights higher, aiming for a universal coronavirus vaccine that could tackle any future strains and possibly even stave off another pandemic.
Since the race for a first Covid jab supercharged a new generation of vaccine technology, there have been numerous efforts to develop pan-coronavirus immunisation.
Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, who was a pioneer of the mRNA technology used in Pfizer's Covid vaccine, is leading one such project.
He said the problem with updating current vaccines to target all existing strains -- a plan announced by Pfizer earlier this month -- is that "new variants are going to appear every three or six months".
After more than two years simply trying to infect more people, he said, the virus is now starting to mutate specifically to get around the immunity gained from vaccines -- much as influenza's constant changing requires an updated shot every year.
"That makes it a little bit trickier, because now you're fighting head-to-head with the virus," Weissman told AFP.
So his team is working on a pan-coronavirus vaccine, which he said has tested well so far.
