Scientists at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a 3D-printed vaccine patch that provides greater protection than a typical vaccine shot. The trick is applying the vaccine patch directly to the skin, which is full of immune cells that vaccines target. The resulting immune response from the vaccine […]
New vaccine platform can better induce anti-malaria immunity in the liver
Malaria remains a deadly disease that affects people worldwide, particularly in Africa. Caused by a parasite that can enter the human bloodstream via mosquito bite, the parasites can then infect and reproduce within the person's liver. Significant effort has been made to develop an anti-malaria vaccine; unfortunately, previous vaccine candidates have had low-to-modest efficacies. Now, […]
COVID-19 nasal vaccine candidate effective at preventing disease transmission
Breathe in, breathe out. That’s how easy it is for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to enter your nose. And though remarkable progress has been made in developing intramuscular vaccines against SARS-CoV- 2, such as the readily available Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, nothing yet—like a nasal vaccine—has been approved to provide […]
Tuberculosis vaccine might help reduce eczema in infants
A century-old tuberculosis vaccine could help reduce the incidence of eczema in high-risk infants due to its beneficial off-target effects, according to a new MCRI-led allergy study. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a vaccine used in Australia until the 1980s to prevent tuberculosis, had been tested in a trial to see if it can reduce the rate […]
Vaccine nationalism may increase COVID-19 case numbers and the emergence of novel variants
The allocation of COVID-19 vaccine between countries has thus far tended toward vaccine nationalism, wherein countries stockpile vaccines to prioritize access for their citizenry over equitable vaccine sharing. The extent of vaccine nationalism, however, may strongly impact global trajectories of COVID-19 case numbers and increase the potential emergence of novel variants, according to a Princeton […]
FDA Approves Pfizer’s Tick-borne Encephalitis Vaccine
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pfizer’s TicoVac vaccine for the treatment of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The vaccine is approved outside of United States, and more than 170 million doses have been administered since 1976. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends vaccination for everyone in areas where the annual incidence of clinical disease […]
UK shares COVID-19 vaccines with Malawi
This is the first tranche of the 100 million vaccines the Prime Minister pledged the UK would share within the next year at last month's G7 in Cornwall, 80 million of which will go to COVAX, a scheme that ensures equitable, global access to Covid-19 vaccines. The consignment arrived in Malawi on Saturday, 14 August […]
CHOP researchers identify two proteins that could be used for a potential NTHi vaccine
Scientists at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified two proteins that could be used for a potential vaccine against nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). Working in a mouse model, the investigators found that administering two bacterial adhesive proteins that play a key role in helping the bacteria to latch on to respiratory cells and initiate […]
Study suggests second Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shot may not be needed after previous SARS-CoV-2 infection
Researchers in Austria have conducted a study showing that individuals previously infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibit a significantly more pronounced antibody response to one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine than previously uninfected individuals. The team from the Medical University of Vienna says that an astonishing 20- to […]
New collaboration aims to boost vaccines manufacturing capability in South Africa
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Afrigen Biologics (PTY) Limited, the Biologicals and Vaccines Institute of Southern Africa (Biovac), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have signed a letter of intent to address the global imbalance of manufacturing capacity […]