Intramuscular injection of a mixture of COVID-19 peptide vaccine and tetanus vaccine in horse induced neutralizing antibodies against authentic virus of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.

ABSTRACT

Peptide vaccine is not effective due to its low immunogenicity. To improve the efficacy of peptide vaccine against COVID-19, a novel method was developed by mixing a COVID-19 peptide vaccine with a tetanus vaccine. In this study, intramuscular injection of a mixture of COVID-19 peptide vaccine and tetanus vaccine twice, i.e., first dose on day 0 and second dose on day 21, induced neutralizing antibodies against authentic virus of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in a horse. Horse serum of day 35, i.e., two weeks after the second dose, neutralized authentic virus of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, equal to half effectiveness of human serum from vaccinees of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. However, neither horse serum nor human serum neutralized Omicron variant authentic virus. No side effects were observed after each dose. This study indicates intramuscular injection of a mixture of COVID-19 peptide vaccine and tetanus vaccine may work in humans to improve peptide vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2.