Coronavirus in China: home-grown mRNA vaccine works better against all existing variants, mice study shows

Study led by former top virologist reveals results of comparing mRNA-based hybrid vaccine with Omicron-specific shot in mice

The team’s Delta-Omicron jab can produce broader neutralising antibodies against all variants, study indicates

Reading Time:2 minutes

The continued emergence of new variants makes it critical for vaccines to be effective against a broad spectrum of strains. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00am, 21 Sep 2022

A booster dose of a hybrid mRNA vaccine can provide better protection against Omicron and other coronavirus variants than strain-specific shots, a mice-based study led by China’s former top virologist and immunologist George Gao Fu has shown.

An array of vaccines based on different technologies has been developed and rolled out worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic broke out nearly three years ago. However, the continued emergence of new variants makes it critical that the shots are effective against a broad spectrum of strains.

The Gao-led research team earlier developed an mRNA-based hybrid vaccine seen to offer better protection against both the Delta and Omicron variants in mice.

On comparing the efficacy of their hybrid vaccine against an Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine, the team found that the latter – while more effective against Omicron – provided less protection against other strains of Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. These included the original strain first reported in Wuhan, as well as the subsequent Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.

Their Delta-Omicron vaccine produced broader neutralising antibodies against all types of variants, according to the study first published in peer-reviewed scientific journal Cell last month.

George Gao Fu used to head the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Photo: AP

In a follow-up study published last Wednesday in Cell Research, another peer-reviewed journal, the team further examined the efficacy of the hybrid vaccine as a booster dose.

Vaccinated mice were boosted with either of the two shots. The hybrid booster was shown to induce a stronger immune response, including for the currently circulating Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x