Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use technology U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not previously approved. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine produced a report June 28, 2021 explaining why the mRNA vaccines work as well as they do. They discovered their ‘antibody factory’ keeps on producing longer.
Germinal Centers Churning Out Antibodies
We’re in a world war against the virus so a military analogy is appropriate. The Washington researchers compare germinal centers to military boot camps where recruits learn to obey instructions. However, germinal centers are actually transient, antibody-secreting structures, producing plasma cells and memory B cells in secondary lymphoid tissues.
‘Those germinal centers are military boot camps’ the report explains. ‘They are places where experienced cells train recruits to recognize the enemy, and weapons are sharpened. A better germinal center response may equal a better vaccine.’ However, the most exciting aspect of their research is those boot camps appear to keep churning antibodies out longer.
Peering Into the Future of mRNA Vaccines
COVID-19 is a new disease. The vaccines are new medications. Our depth of experience is shallow, and so we have to wait for time to catch up. However, and this is really interesting, the researchers found evidence the immune response to mRNA vaccines is both strong, and potentially long-lasting.
Vaccine effectiveness is a measure of how many people with a particular vaccine remain healthy, or fall ill. Therefore, if a vaccine has been out for say six months, that’s the depth of our knowledge of endurance.
‘Germinal centers are the key to persistent, protective immune response,’ says senior researcher Ali Ellebedy, PhD. ‘We found that germinal centers were still going strong fifteen weeks after the vaccine’s first dose. We’re still monitoring the germinal centers, and they’re not declining. In some people, they’re still ongoing. This is truly remarkable.’
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Preview Image: Germinal Center in a Lymph Node
