The 'Memory' Of Your Immune System May Offer Some Protection Against Omicron Variant

COVID-19’s latest variant, Omicron, has left the world in another state of trepidation over fears that it will prolong the pandemic, but what if the body’s immune system is actually playing a good game of catch-up after two years of COVID-19?

Symptoms reported for Omicron have appeared to be mild. But scientists say that there may be evidence that the immune system may have internalized enough knowledge of the virus to offer some added protection against it.

“It may be that our antibodies may not work as well, but the immune system has these backup plans that give us some resilience against Omicron,” E. John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News.

To defeat viruses, the body relies on antibodies as its first line of defense, but if these are overcome, the body relies on other cells for protection. There are two types of T-cells known as helper cells that guide the immune response and cytotoxic T-cells, known as killer T cells, that recognize and eliminate viruses. These two types of cells coordinate resistance against foreign substances entering the body to prevent them from causing too much harm.

Andrew Redd, a virologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained to NBC that these cells tend to be less affected when a virus mutates than antibodies because they do not target specific surface areas of a virus.

In a preprint study led by Redd, researchers examined whether Omicron's mutations rendered them unrecognizable to killer T cells. After examining 52 pieces of the virus, his team found only one mutation in a section that T cells recognize in two of the 30 people studied. This, he suggests, is in line with previous NIAID studies that found these cells remained intact with each new mutation of COVID-19.

However, there is not enough data to conclude that the immune system’s "memory" of COVID-19 is enough to blunt Omicron.

In South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, it was theorized that it spread so quickly because of the relatively low number of vaccinations and the strain's capacity to infect those who previously contracted COVID-19.

It has also been warned that Omicron can overcome some of the protections provided by some of the existing COVID-19 vaccines. A study by South African researchers recently found that Omicron may have the ability to evade some of the protections offered by Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.

The manufacturer insists that for those already vaccinated, a booster dose should be able to replenish enough antibodies to provide better protection against Omicron.