While stories about the delta variant flood the news, there may be some measure of relief in these tense times – at least for the vaccinated.
A plethora of antibody in the nose and mouth, entry points for SARS-CoV-2, offers “good news” for the sites of immune protection in a vaccine, according to Ross Kedl, PhD, a professor of immunology and microbiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Numerous studies have shown, in both humans and primates, that the COVID-19 vaccines produce large amounts of antibody in the nose and saliva of the vaccinated. The mRNA vaccines, as well as protein-based vaccines such as Novavax, produce neutralizing antibodies that localize to the virus’s main ports of entry, Kedl said.
He and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus department colleagues Rosemary Rochford, PhD, Thomas (Tem) Morrison, PhD, and Elena Hsieh, MD, have found similar evidence in nasal swabs and in saliva from vaccinated individuals.