A variant-proof COVID vaccine? T-cells from common colds could help scientists make the "Holy Grail" - CBS News

London — T-cells generated as part of the body's natural immune response to the common cold may help protect against serious illness from COVID-19, according to a study carried out in the U.K.  Researchers at Imperial College London told CBS News the findings could help scientists create vaccines that remain more effective against new variants of the coronavirus.

"The conclusion should not be that if you've had a common cold you don't need to worry about contracting COVID-19," Professor Aljit Lalvani, one of the authors of the study, told CBS News.

Lalvani said the majority of the current COVID-19 vaccines specifically target the virus' spike protein, which it uses to affix itself to healthy human cells.

The vaccines cause the body to produce antibodies and T-cells that respond to that protein.

Lalvani says the research at Imperial College found that T-cells generated after a common cold caused by other coronaviruses (which are common) attack a type of proteins that remain similar across the known COVID-19 variants.

"The fact that (the T-cells) can attack the internal proteins of each of these related viruses [COVID-19 variants] means that they give what's called a broad cross-protection," Lalvani told CBS News.