Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic

by Scott Gottlieb

The ability of a vaccine to stimulate the production of antibodies that are highly specific to a particular virus is one way vaccines protect against infection.5 Researchers measure the level of these neutralizing antibodies in determining whether a vaccine is triggering an adequate level of protection.6 But a good vaccine maximizes its ability to kindle all of our immune system’s machinery, not only stimulating the production of antibodies but also spurring the activity of T cells and B cells that have memory, and are able to churn out new antibodies and other mediators of our immune response after they come into contact with a virus months or years later.