Scientists from Oxford, the UK, and Switzerland, writing in the journal Nature, said that T-cell protection is a “key feature” of adenovirus vaccines like the Oxford and J&J jabs.

As per the report, researcher Burkhard Ludewig from Cantonal Hospital in Switzerland said: “The T-cells that come from these cellular training camps appear to have a very high level of ‘fitness’.

“Adenoviruses have co-evolved with humans over a very long time, and learned a lot about the human immune system in the process.

“Viruses are always the best teachers, and here they have taught us an important lesson about how best to boost killer T-cell responses.

“Hopefully we can put this to good use in designing new vaccines targeting other diseases like TB, HIV, hepatitis C and cancer.”

The researchers found that adenoviruses are able to get into long-lived tissue cells, known as fibroblastic reticular cells, which act as “training grounds” for T-cells.

Previous studies have shown that the Oxford jab is more effective in generating T-cells than mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna.

T-cell levels are difficult to measure, but the new study gives hope that they may last a lifetime, the report said.

Paul Klenerman from the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford said: “Millions of people have received adenovirus vaccines around the world. The ultimate goal with these vaccines is the induction of long-term immune system protection using both antibodies and T-cells.

“This research helps us to understand more on the process of vaccination, and why the effects on killer T-cells are so prolonged.”

Source: IANS