NIH researcher Andaleeb Sajid discusses her study’s finding that ticks were unable to feed on vaccinated guinea pigs, preventing transmission of the pathogen that causes Lyme disease.
In his book’s Introduction, physician-scientist Paul A. Offit reviews the unusual constellation of circumstances around the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
More than a dozen vaccines for tuberculosis are currently being tested in clinical trials. Some use whole bacteria as BCG does, while others deliver protein subunits or genetic material carried by viral vectors.
This month marks the 100-year anniversary of BCG, still the only approved vaccine against the lethal pathogen. But there are new vaccines for this wily foe on the horizon.
It’s unclear how long protections against infection will last from the initial vaccinations, and health authorities say additional jabs will likely be necessary.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is less effective at preventing COVID-19 than other approved vaccines are, but experts say it could still be an important tool in curbing the pandemic.
As researchers test existing vaccines for nonspecific protection against COVID-19, immunologists are working to understand how some inoculations protect against pathogens they weren’t designed to fend off.
Although scientists debate the ethics of deliberately infecting volunteers with SARS-CoV-2, plenty of consenting participants have been exposed to all sorts of pathogens in prior trials.
Some researchers express skepticism given the lack of data about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and the country plans to vaccinate healthcare workers, teachers, and others even before testing is complete.