A Recent Study Shows the Administration of the Covid-19 Booster Shot in a Specific Arm may Have an Impact

(CTN News) –  When receiving the forthcoming Covid-19 booster in the upcoming autumn, it may be prudent to exercise caution in selecting the specific arm for vaccine administration.

According to a study published on August 11 in the journal Biomedicine, it has been suggested that the immune response could potentially be enhanced when the booster vaccine is administered in the same arm as the previous Covid-19 dose.

In a news release, Martina Sester, a biologist and head of the Institute of Infection Medicine at Saarland University Hospital in Germany, expressed that the subject appears commonplace and minor, as nobody has previously addressed it.

The researchers used the data of 303 patients who received the mRNA vaccination and a booster dose as part of Germany’s vaccine campaign.

The study showed that two weeks following the booster, the number of “killer T cells” was much higher in individuals who got both shots in the same arm.

Those cells, which assault and destroy the other cells they target, were present in 67% of the same-arm cases and just 43% in those who had their injections in different arms, according to research coauthor Laura Ziegler, a doctorate student at Saarland University.

“It’s absolutely fascinating because this is a subject that is clearly under studied,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and former medical director of the nonprofit National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Schaffner was not involved in the study. “I can’t remember another study similar to this with other vaccines,” he said.

Why it might or might not work

It makes sense why the injection placement would make a difference, Schaffner remarked. He explained that the cells that provide the immunological response are in local lymph nodes.

Lymph nodes are across the body in regions including the neck, chest, abdomen and armpits, according to the American Cancer Society.

According to the study, there is a higher immunological response if the immune cells in those lymph nodes are restimulated in the same location.

Although the trial revealed a stronger immune response, Schaffner added that it is still uncertain whether receiving the booster in the same arm produces better or more durable protection.

“We wouldn’t know that unless we did a much larger clinical study with follow-up actual infections,” he continued.

According to the study, immune cells are crucial for immediately eliminating the virus, but antibodies are also necessary to halt additional damage. Additionally, fewer antibodies were found than expected by researchers.

However, the antibodies in individuals who received the booster in the same arm were more effective in attaching to the viral spike proteins; Schaffner said it is worthwhile to consider the results when going for your next booster.

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