Duke Human Vaccine Institute develops potential coronavirus vaccine to protect against variants, future outbreaks

Researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute have created a vaccine with the potential to protect against multiple types of coronavirus. The new pan-coronavirus vaccine, which has had promising results in protecting mice and monkeys from a variety of coronavirus infections, could be useful as a booster shot and a way to vaccinate against new variants of SARS-CoV-2. It could also help prevent more coronavirus outbreaks in the future. “Now is the time to plan for the next coronavirus pandemic or outbreak. We’ve had two major outbreaks before COVID-19: one in 2003, the [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome] outbreak, and one in 2011, the [Middle East Respiratory Syndrome] outbreak,” said Barton Haynes, director of the DHVI and Frederic M. Hanes distinguished professor of medicine, in a May 17 COVID-19 media briefing. “Both [were] coronaviruses. And certainly we expect others.” Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which rely on mRNA technology, the pan-coronavirus vaccine is...