15 Mar 2021
Setting it Straight: COVID-19 vaccines and influenza vaccines - Part 2
Last week, I pointed out that our annual influenza (flu) shot is a cocktail of three or four different vaccines against two influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2) and one or two influenza B viruses, while the current COVID-19 vaccines are directed at just one variant of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. That discussion ended with mention of the live-attenuated, whole virus flu vaccines that undergo limited replication in the upper respiratory tract after being sprayed up each nostril. Comparable vaccines are in development for SARS-CoV-2 but, because of the possibility of back-mutation (reversion) to give a virulent and fully infectious virus, any such product will need to be evaluated with great caution.