omicron: Explainer: T-cells stands on guard against Omicron as antibodies fail
NEW DELHI: Amid rising cases of Covid-19 and its new variant, Omicron, across the globe, experts have warned that the new and supposedly more contagious variant is likely to replace Delta soon as the dominant global variant, with the virus being fitter and having a reproductive advantage. While Delta is still the most common variant in all continents except Africa, Omicron is spreading very quickly. Fully vaccinated people with no travel history have also tested positive for Omicron, raising doubts over effectiveness of the existing Covid-19 vaccines, discussions on the need for a booster dose, and speculations of a third wave. As Omicron is said to have mutations that may be helping it escape the body’s first line of defence, antibodies, studies have highlighted a bigger role that the immune system’s second line of defence, T-cells, may play. T cells, the body's weapon against virus-infected cells, were primed enough by vaccination that they defended against Omicron, separate ...