In a significant development towards finding solutions to fight Covid-19 variants, researchers have been able to find out the presence of T cells with the ability to recognise Covid-19 variants in people who have recovered from Covid-19 or have got the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
The study, published in Cell Reports Medicine, includes data on the four major SARS-CoV-2 variants -- Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1) and Epsilon (B.1.427/B.1.429). It found out that both “helper” T cells and “killer” T cells in those people can recognise the mutated varieties of the Covid-19 virus.
According to The Indian Express report, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) website mentions that before the Delta variant became prevalent, the research was already initiated.
In the research, three categories of people were analysed for the study-- Covid-19 recovered people, people vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and samples of people before the pandemic who were never exposed to the Covid-19 virus.
Along with the Covid-19 recovered patients, vaccinated individuals also had T cells that could target variants. This indicates that Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can work towards protection against Covid-19 variants.