Since the beginning of the pandemic, researchers have searched for a biomarker which indicates immune protection from COVID-19 known as a correlate of protection. Now, the team developing the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have published the first results of their so-called 'breakthrough study' which puts forwards thresholds of neutralising antibodies that they suggest correlate with protection. The hope is that, should these results be confirmed, such biomarkers could speed up the development of new vaccines, and provide better ways to monitor the efficacy of tweaked vaccine aimed at fighting variants.
News: Scientists identify long-sought marker for COVID vaccine success
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Scientists zero in on long-sought marker of COVID-vaccine efficacy
Pfizer COVID vaccine protects against worrying coronavirus variants
Read the paper: An invariant Trypanosoma vivax vaccine antigen induces protective immunity
