The second generation of COVID-19 vaccines is coming! Played a generation, do you still need it?

On December 27, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention approved the emergency use license for Sinopharm's China Bio-II Recombinant Protein COVID-19 vaccine. It is also the world's first second-generation COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use.

Source: China Bio WeChat public account

Many people are confused: what is a second-generation vaccine? Compared with the second generation and the first generation, where is the more "one"? After a generation, do you still need a second-generation vaccine? To this end, the reporter of Science and Technology Daily interviewed the relevant research and development units.

What is different about the second-generation vaccine?

The second-generation vaccine approved for emergency use this time is divided from the technical route and belongs to the protein recombinant vaccine. China was approved for emergency use of this type of vaccine in March this year.

"Recombinant protein seedlings are very mature technology, not new technologies." Zhang Yuntao, chief scientist of Sinopharm China Biologics, told science and technology daily reporters that the hepatitis B vaccine that children are born with is this technical route, synthesizing antigen proteins in vitro and sending them into the body to produce immunity, and the safety has been verified for decades.

Since it is not a new technology, why is it a "second generation"?

The first generation designed the antigen protein using part of the protein of the prototype strain of the virus, such as the key region of the S protein of the new crown virus. The second-generation vaccine research and development is different in the design of antigens.

Li Qiming, the main person in charge of the R&D team and president of sinobiotic Biotechnology Research Institute of Sinopharm, further explained that in view of the new trend of mutation strain epidemic, on the basis of the first generation of vaccines, the immune escape ability of various mutant mutation sites was comprehensively evaluated through molecular simulation and computational modeling methods, and the R&D team designed and developed the second-generation recombinant COVID-19 vaccine.

It is understood that the second-generation immune antigen is not limited to the key area of the new coronavirus S protein that has been previously focused in the industry. That is to say, the more like the first generation of "drawing a tiger according to the cat", the better, while the second generation of modeling analysis and calculation evaluation has the meaning of "speculating on the charm", so it is more "intelligent" in terms of excitation antibodies.

What's so good about second-generation vaccines?

Because the immune escape ability of various mutant sites is targeted from the source of the antigen design, the immune escape ability of various mutant sites is comprehensively and quantitatively evaluated, so the second-generation vaccine is effective against a variety of virus variants.

Clinical vaccination effects in the UAE showed that the neutralizing antibody levels stimulated by the second-generation vaccine were significantly better than those of the control vaccine group for the Omiljung strain.

"The second-generation vaccine was developed for mutant strains and employed a broad-spectrum design." Li Qiming said that from the current data, the sequential inoculation of recombinant vaccines and inactivated vaccines can stimulate the human body to produce higher levels of neutralizing antibodies against prototype strains and major variant strains.

Mutations in the coronavirus are often unexpected, but are second-generation vaccines effective for variants that haven't yet emerged? Li Qiming said that the research and development team is cooperating with the research team of the Central Inspection Institute to use a fake virus system for broad-spectrum research on vaccines, and the relevant results will be published in the form of scientific and technological papers, which is speculated to have certain protective potential for possible mutants according to the situation at this stage.

After a generation of vaccines, do we still need a second-generation vaccine?

According to the data released at the press conference of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council on December 29, China completed the full vaccination of 1.27413 million people, accounting for 85.64% of the total population of the country.

Many people have completed the vaccination of a generation of vaccines, so do we still need a second-generation vaccine?

It is understood that in the UAE, which is approved for emergency use, the second-generation vaccine is vaccinated as an enhanced needle for people who have been vaccinated with two doses of Sinopharm's China Biological COVID-19 inactivated vaccine.

Li Qiming said that from the current data, the "inactivated + recombinant" vaccination method will greatly improve the level and durability of the immune response of the vaccinated.

Recent studies have also shown that the neutralizing antibody titers of the experimenters with heterologous second-generation vaccines are higher than those in the homologous vaccination group; as a "third shot", Sinopharm China's bioresonant protein vaccine is effective against multiple strains (including the Omikerong variant), and the neutralizing antibody levels are significantly better than those of the control vaccine group.

In the face of the constantly mutating new crown virus, higher neutralizing antibodies will be more conducive to the formation of herd immune barriers. Relevant experts said that the new clinical data and use data will provide strong data support for the global selection of new crown vaccine research and development and vaccination strategies.

Source: Science and Technology Daily