AFP: [2] In the fight against the coronavirus, one key component of the human immune system has hogged the limelight: antibodies. These Y-shaped proteins have made top news recently because Covid-19 shots don’t produce as many of them that work against the heavily mutated Omicron variant compared to past strains — at least, not without a booster.
[3] Trained by both vaccines and infection, antibodies grab on to the spike protein that studs the surface of the coronavirus, stopping it from penetrating cells and sickening the host.
But while antibodies are rightly celebrated, they’re not the only game in town.
[4] In fact, “there’s a complex and coordinated response that is really beautiful from an evolutionary standpoint,” Harvard immunologist Roger Shapiro explains.
Here are some key points: ‘Carpet bombers’ of the innate immune system, B and T cells: intelligence officers and trained assassins, Stopping severe disease.