Covid-19 vaccines: Discussing how they work, the second dose and timing with Babraham Institute immunologist

Vaccination offers by far the best – perhaps only – route out of the Covid-19 crisis.

And, with two vaccines now being rolled out in the UK and a third available in the spring, progress is being made on delivering this vital protection.

Immunologist Prof Adrian Liston, at the Babraham Institute, tells the Cambridge Independent: “Vaccines all work in a fairly similar way. The key outcome we want are antibodies that bind the infecting virus and either block its entry to cells or flag it for destruction."

read the interview with me here

 

As an aside, back in May 2020 I was interviewed on the prospects of a COVID vaccine. Unlike some other experts, I argued that the first COVID vaccines would likely be designed, tested and approved by the end of 2020, and that the regulators would accept a vaccine efficacy rate as low as 50%. Fortunately my optimistic forecast proved true, with the FDA issuing guidence in June that they would accept efficacy rates of 50% and above, and the first approvals occuring in December 2020. Hopefully my optimism on the dosage change proves equally prophetic!