New study: It is best to administer the vaccine with one arm

Is it better to give vaccinations in the same arm? Yes, it looks like it.

It shows that The first scientific study ever out of the question. The study was recently published in the scientific journal E-bio medicine, and is part of The Lancet Discovery Science.

– Our study shows that vaccinations given in the same arm generate a stronger immune response than vaccinations given in both arms, explains Laura Ziegler, PhD student at Saarland University in Germanywho is the lead author of the study in a comment.

No one has asked the question before

Vaccinations that need to be given in several doses can be given in different ways.

can provide health care The first vaccination dose is given in one arm and then the booster dose is given in the other arm.

Both the first dose and the booster dose may also be given in the same arm.

Even today No researcher has investigated whether it even matters how the healthcare system does it.

– The question seems so vulgar and trivial that no one had thought of asking it before, says Professor and Supervisor Martina Sester.

I looked up vaccinations against COVID-19

Researchers Laura Ziegler and Martina Sester examined the case in connection with Germany’s vaccination campaign against covid-19.

study include 303 people received their first dose and booster dose of the mRNA vaccine from Biontech at the start of the vaccination campaign in the country.

Subjects received their booster dose either in the same arm as the first dose or in the other arm.

It is best to give the vaccine in the same arm

The researchers then measured how the subjects’ immune systems reacted based on which arm they received their second dose.

some signs The vaccine response showed no difference between the groups.

But the surprising finding was that the booster dose given in the arm affected the number of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells two weeks after the vaccine was given.

these cells often called “kills T cells” It is an important part of the immune system.

The results showed that the killer T cells were significantly higher in people who received two doses of the vaccine in the same arm.

Stab in the same arm more effectively

Among people who received vaccine shots in the same arm, the researchers found killer T cells in 67 percent.

in subjects who Looking at the booster dose in the other arm, the researchers were able to detect killer T cells in 43 percent.

Stimulates the lymph node in one arm better

Researcher Laura Ziegler believes the results indicate that injecting the vaccine into the same arm provides better protection if a person becomes infected with the sars-cov-2 virus.

can explain It is that the lymph node in the armpit, which has an important role in T cells and antibodies in the immune system, is activated more effectively.

During the second graft in the same arm, the lymph node on that particular side is, so to speak, already stimulated and primed.

Make the antibodies more effective

Killer T cells do not directly destroy the virus. However, they bind to the virus and prevent it from doing more harm.

And she does Also easier for the immune system Connective cells, macrophagesto find and eliminate the virus by ingesting it.

The number of antibodies against covid-19 did not differ between the groups. However, it turns out that people who received both doses in the same arm had an additional positive effect.

were their antibodies Easier to bind to the spike protein of the virus. This means that the antibodies of those vaccinated in the same arm can do a better job than the antibodies of those who received their vaccine doses in both arms, explains Martina Sester.

It is generally best to tie the same arm

German researchers believe their findings show that vaccinations in the same arm can provide better protection against infection and serious disease in COVID-19.

The results are also supportive It is believed that it is generally best to give vaccinations that need to be given multiple times in the same arm.

But more research is needed before it can be said with absolute certainty that the results can be translated into other vaccines that are taken multiple times, for example the flu shot.

Health care can start doing that right away

In discussing the study, they mention that the results can be used directly in clinical practice. It costs the health care system no more than administering vaccine doses in the same arm and causes no more side effects.

question which The researchers noted that the arm in which the vaccine is administered turns out not to be so naïve after all.