A study conducted by the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom has discovered that the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine destroys T cells and weakens the immune system. Despite this, pharmaceutical companies are seeking to inject the population with a third dose or booster jab to ‘prevent’ this from happening.

T cells are immune cells that are able to target specific foreign particles – they are most commonly studied in relation to their ability to fight cancer and infectious diseases, but they are also essential for other aspects of the body’s immune response.

There are two types of T cells: killer T cells and helper T cells. Killer T cells attack cells that have already been infected by foreign particles, whilst helper T cells assist other cells to develop killer cells and stimulate other cells to create neutralizing antibodies.

The study from the Francis Crick Institute focused on the neutralising antibodies which are created by T cells. It analyzed whether the Pfizer vaccine helps the T cells create enough antibodies to fight off Covid-19 and associated variants of the virus.

The study – conducted by the Francis Crick Institute in collaboration with the British National Institute for Health Research – showed that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine produced fewer neutralising antibodies against Covid-19 and other variants.

Scientists analyzed antibodies in the blood of 250 healthy people who received either a single or both doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine up to three months after their first dose.

The researchers used a test developed by the Francis Crick Institute to figure out the ability of the neutralising antibodies to prevent the entry of the Covid-19 variants.

The study revealed that only 50 percent of the people who received a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine had a quantifiable neutralizing antibody response against the alpha variant of Covid-19. Additionally, this number decreased to just 32 percent and 25 percent for the delta and beta variants, respectively.

Among all variants, fewer antibodies were generated the older the individual receiving the vaccine and those with weaker immune systems. Considering the vaccine’s ability to destroy T cells and weaken the immune system even further, getting vaccinated could cause damage to many people, especially those who have compromised immune systems.

There was no correlation observed for gender or body mass index. Researchers are looking to conduct further studies to check the capabilities of other vaccines, beginning with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

David Bauer, head of the Bauer Lab in the Francis Crick Institute, said: “So, the key message from our finding is we found that recipients of the Pfizer vaccine, those who have had two doses, have about five- to six-fold lower amounts of neutralizing antibodies.

“Now, these are the, sort of, gold standard, private security antibodies of your immune system which block the virus from getting into your cells in the first place. So, we’ve found that that is less for people with two doses. We also found that for people with only one dose of the Pfizer jab that they are less likely to have high levels of these antibodies in their blood.”

Bauer suggested that people should get booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccines instead of avoiding the jabs altogether. Additionally, he said that older people should be prioritised in the distribution of the booster vaccines.

Bauer said: “And perhaps most importantly for all of us going forward is that we see that the older you are, the lower your levels are likely to be. And the time since you’ve had your second jab, as that time goes on, the lower your levels are also likely to be,” he said. “So, that’s telling us that we are probably going to be needing to prioritize boosters for older and more vulnerable people.